


Former Heroes (who quit too late)

by anythingcanhappenchild



Series: The Kids Aren't Alright [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (not explicit) - Freeform, (sort of), Constructive Criticism Welcome, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Found Families, Gen, Hacking, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Skye | Daisy Johnson, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Possible Hacking Inaccuracies, Possible legal inaccuracies, Skye | Daisy Johnson is Awesome, Team as Family, Teen Skye | Daisy Johnson, fostering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-05-08 01:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14683776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anythingcanhappenchild/pseuds/anythingcanhappenchild
Summary: “She’s a potential asset. And I’d prefer not having to arrest her as a potential threat to SHIELD.”“You want us to babysit.” May responded. Coulson knew her well enough to know she was … less than enthused at the prospect.“You two are two of my best agents. And I need this asset to be watched twenty-four-seven. May you can complete most, if not all, of your administrative work off-site, and you’ll be capable of acting in her defense if a situation arises. And Coulson you’ve had the most experience with managing difficult subjects.”ORWhen Daisy hacks into SHIELD to help them with a case, Coulson and May get charged with protecting the talented, but traumatized, teen.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> The title comes from "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Fall Out Boy.
> 
> Please heed the warnings, I hope you enjoy!

“Director Fury.” Coulson greeted as he walked into his office. “Agent May?” He stared at her in surprise. She’d barely left the administration offices since Bahrain, so he isn’t sure how to feel about her presence here.

“Yes, Agent Coulson, take a seat.” Fury gestured toward the other empty chair, and Coulson tried very hard not to feel as though he’d been called into the principal’s office. “I asked you both here because I need you two on a classified mission that’s arisen.”

“A mission, sir?” Coulson asked, glancing over at May to see her reaction. She specifically chose not to return to the field – Coulson expedited the transfer for her – and Fury wasn’t always known for listening, not for exceptionally important matters. 

“Yes, a mission. Are the two of you aware of Project Doublegate?”

Coulson exchanged a glance with May, who appeared just as confused about the matter as him, and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “No, sir, I haven’t.”

May responded with a brief shake of her head, seemingly the picture of poise, but Coulson knew, and suspected Fury knew as well, she was feeling uncomfortable with the idea of returning to the field.

“Alright. It’s a major operation that only started a few months ago. We’d been looking into ties between organized crime and the political offices, along with several law enforcement agencies – including SHIELD. We weren’t getting anywhere until some hacker dropped a file of information on our heads.”

“Affiliated with SHIELD?” May inquired about the hacker, waiting for Fury to get to the point.

“No. That’s the problem. This hacker provided us with enough information to prove half of the politicians and cops are dirty, as well as several SHIELD agents, along with a laundry list of all their crimes. All of this was dropped off directly on my private servers, which she hacked, along with a note that if I didn’t take care of this she’d release the information publicly, along with evidence of my negligence.”

“Serious trust issues then,” Coulson remarked, “which is unsurprising for a hacker. People in that profession tend to rely on themselves alone, and avoid government agencies at all costs.” He hadn’t missed the she comment any more than May had, and his instincts were disliking this situation more and more, especially considering Fury hadn’t specified which field agents he was talking about. He could already tell this mission, whatever it may be, was going to be far off the book. 

“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. I sent teams to deal with some of the more volatile subjects, but the rest we need to deal with above board.”

“Above board, sir?” May asked, surprised, since SHIELD almost always worked in the shadows. Coulson could tell she didn’t like the sound of this, and in all honesty, he agreed.

“We need to send the majority of these people to prison, document the crimes and the positions’ vulnerability, otherwise the power vacuum will just leave space for more crooks to take their place. The information wasn’t going to be any help, since we’d need the hacker to testify. I informed her of this a few days ago, to try and put off the inevitable cover ups and public panic that would surge if she sent out the information. And then she showed up at my house.”

“Your house.” Coulson deadpanned.

“Yes. She hacked my address, double checked that I wasn’t guilty of anything crooked, which, as far as I can tell, involved hacking into our level ten files.” Coulson’s eyebrows were working their way up his forehead, and he could tell May was getting more incredulous by the minute. If he thought Fury was one for practical jokes during work time he’d have called it moments ago. A non-SHIELD hacker showing up on Fury’s doorstep? It sounded too impossible to believe. “Apparently she decided I wasn’t going to shoot her for a cover up. Either way, she needs to be kept safe for the duration of the trial and possibly beyond.”

“Beyond?” Coulson questioned.

“She’s a potential asset. And I’d prefer not having to arrest her as a potential threat to SHIELD.”

“You want us to babysit.” May responded. Coulson knew her well enough to know she was … less than enthused at the prospect.

“You two are two of my best agents. And I need this asset to be watched twenty-four-seven. May you can complete most, if not all, of your administrative work off-site, and you’ll be capable of acting in her defense if a situation arises. And Coulson you’ve had the most experience with managing difficult subjects.” 

Coulson knew he was talking about Strike Team Delta, and, while he appreciated the compliment, he exchanged a quick glance with May unsure why Fury seemed to be almost buttering them up.

“What aren’t you telling us?” May asked.

“The hacker is currently in the next room. And she’s fifteen.”

“Fifteen.” May deadpanned. 

***

“I hear you two are on the new babysitting mission.” Hill called out. Sounding far too gleeful in May’s opinion.

She simply nodded her head in Hill’s direction, and sent her a glare. She didn’t want to do this, she wasn’t sure she could do this. If it was anyone other than Fury was handing off this mission, she’d wonder what they were playing at. As it was, she understood the reasoning. Fury didn’t have infinite field agents to send on protection detail, and she could both complete her work at home, and be fully equipped to act in the girl’s defense.

She’s not entirely sure she shouldn’t still be wondering what Fury was playing at. But she can’t do anything about him now, and she was already spending enough energy pushing down the whispers at the back of her head. 

The hacker is fifteen. Not a child, a teenager, and clearly a capable one at that. Her and Coulson might have to play house for a while, but it was going to be fine. She could keep this girl safe. It wouldn’t be like –

“May?” Hill asked. Belatedly May sent a questioning look in her direction, cursing the concern she could see on Hill’s face. “This is her file, everything we’ve been able to gather, along with some notes Fury and I made.”

“Notes?” Coulson asked, walking up behind May and sharing a concerned glance with her. Nothing about this detail would be standard, but receiving personal notes about the subject was especially odd. May was starting to wonder how much trouble this kid – teen – was going to be. The extensive hacking skills certainly didn’t bode well.

“By the way,” Coulson started. “Where exactly are her parents, or guardians, I guess? They are aware she’s going into protective custody right?”

“That’s one of the notes. As far as we know, the kid doesn’t have family, grew up in the system.” Hill started. She hesitated though, before continuing. “She’s also … a bit skittish.”

“Understandable. Considering she’s being detained in a government facility,” May said. 

“Mmm, maybe, she just … well, no matter the reason, it’s important you know. She was careful, talking to Fury and me, not to implicate herself explicitly. So, while we’re planning on amnesty for her in exchange for her testimony, nothing’s official, and we can’t hold her if she decides to leave.”

“Not officially at least,” May responded.

“Yes, not officially, but like I’m sure Fury’s told you, we’d all be better off if this girl becomes an asset, instead of a security risk.”

“Right,” Coulson responded. “So, where is she?”

“In here.” Hill pulled open the door to a conference room, exposing a young girl lounging across several chairs and eating a pack of Oreos. May and Coulson watched as the girl raised her eyebrow and gave them half a smirk.

“Hey. What’s up?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story! More to come!
> 
> All comments are welcome (from smiley faces to constructive criticism).


	2. Settling In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the great response!
> 
> I hope you continue to enjoy it!

“Okay,” Hill started when no one spoke, “Coulson, May, this is Daisy, Daisy this is Agents Coulson and May, they’ll be protecting you for the duration of this trial.”

“And after the trial?” Daisy responded.

“What?” Hill asked, wondering briefly if the child had managed to hear their long-term plans.

“Come on. Nobody here is stupid,” the agents smirked inwardly at the challenge – answer my question honestly or you’re insulting your own intelligence – and waited for her to continue. “So, I testify at your trials and you guys make sure nobody kills me while you need me to legitimize your evidence, theoretically of course, but what about after, when I’ve helped take down enough crooked city workers to fill city hall. Everybody’s still gonna want me dead.”

“We’ll of course be providing you with protection after the trials conclude. Whether or not Agents May and Coulson will continue, or if the protection takes a different form, remains to be seen.” Hill responded before walking forwards and gesturing for the teenager to rise from her seat. “Right now, let’s focus on getting you settled in.

Daisy responded with only hum, but stood at Hill’s gesture and glancing again at May and Coulson. She’d been studying them since they came in, and she’s pretty sure they noticed, but they haven’t made any move to discourage her examination. She’s lived enough places to know that the different last names doesn’t mean not married, but since this is protective custody, not a foster placement, she figures there’s a whole new set of rules.

Despite that, she can’t see any concerning injuries, so she’s probably not heading out with a couple of angry drunks. Unfortunately, they’re still what appears to be super-secret special agents, and their boss just told them they’re taking care of a fifteen-year-old for the foreseeable future. So, best case scenario, she’s going home with two irritated and overqualified special agents, worst case scenario, they’re majorly pissed. 

“Have you eaten anything other than vending machine snacks today?” The woman – Agent May – asked, jerking Daisy out of her thoughts. 

“No?”

“First stop then. That your only bag?”

“Yes?”

The Agent, who definitely seemed super pissed – Daisy could feel her heart start racing at the thought – just nodded and gestured for Daisy to follow. Daisy gave Agent Hill, who seemed more amused by this situation then she should, be a quick smile on her way out. She knew that if it came down to it, the woman would protect her agents over her, but she figured she’s still better off on the woman’s good side than not.

Thankfully, the other agent appeared a bit less angry, and smiled at her, asking if she had any preference for lunch. By the time he was done talking to her, about all the food he likes to cook and his favorite restaurants in the area, they were almost at their car. 

*

May didn’t know what to make of this girl.

She seemed to be simultaneously waiting for the other shoe to drop and sassing them, although that may be because Coulson was encouraging her every time she did. Daisy watched both of them warily, along with half a dozen other customers at the diner, and the entrance, but she didn’t have any of the finesse or skill that would suggest training.

May figures she picked it up from the street, which she’s probably been on for a while, if her wide-eyed look at the meal Coulson ordered for her was any indication, but May determinedly refused to theorize what must have happened to make the girl act like a dog sent to the fighting pits – half scared and half vicious. 

Which is probably unfair, the girl certainly seems jumpier than normal, but she hasn’t made any move toward violence.

Except, of course, doing the one thing that could simultaneously piss off every crime syndicate and government office in the city, and possibly beyond. Which makes her either looking for trouble, monumentally stupid, or a martyr. 

May hopes it’s one of the first two, martyrs are impossible to handle. 

Still, an instinct like hers, if it was refined, could make for a fantastic agent, especially if –

No. She’s finishing this job, and then walking away. If Hill and Fury want to turn a teenager into an agent they can go right ahead, but she’s not going to get involved, and damn Phil if he does.

Nevertheless, she’s infinitely glad Coulson is working with her on this, considering he’s managed to fill the silence left by her until it’s barely noticeable. 

Except, apparently, by Daisy, who keeps glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

“Are you enrolled in school?” May asked, because, apparently, she’s volunteered herself to be the bad guy. She’s either going to be telling a drop out they have to devote time to studying, or taking away the rest of her stability in one strike.

She’s also going to need to watch her words, since Daisy’s now both halfway out of her seat, and as far away from May as she could get. May was fine with letting her have one side of the booth to herself, considering she wouldn’t want to share with a stranger either, but the kid better not take off running.

“No. I dropped out a while ago. Why? I didn’t think high school came with protective custody.”

‘It doesn’t.” May responded, “But you’ll need something to do during the day. What’s the last grade you finished?”

“Define finished.”

May wasn’t going to dignify that with a response, but Coulson doesn’t seem to be on the same page. “We just want to know where to sign you up in the school program. It’s entirely online though, and not affiliated with a specific teacher or lecture program, so if you’d prefer you could just take the placement tests.”

“Why do I need to at all? It’s not like I’ll be able to continue once this is all over.” Daisy responded. 

May was pretty sure she actually sounded upset. Kids usually never liked school until they couldn’t go anymore, so if that was the case, this argument might be easier to solve than she thought.

“You’ll deal with later when it comes. For now, take advantage of the opportunity. Grade level? Or tests?”

“I finished most of eighth.”

May and Coulson exchanged a loaded glance. What could make her drop out before the end of middle school?

“Fine. You’ll start at eighth grade level and work at your own pace.” She wondered if she should add in a warning, about making sure to really try, but a look at the girl’s guardedly hopeful face stopped her. She deserved a chance before May started making threats.

“Speaking of plans,” Coulson finally piped up, “do you have enough clothes and hygiene products for tonight?” Daisy responded with a careful nod. “Great! Then we’ll get you the rest of the essentials tomorrow, okay?”

“You don’t need–”

But Coulson was already waiving away her protests. “Our job is to protect you, you need the necessities, that’s why they’re called necessities, so we’ll get them for you.”

The guardedly hopeful look was now replaced with a mildly panicked one. 

This was going to be a lot harder than she thought. 

*

They were finally at the safe house Hill told them about. After suggesting Daisy get some sleep, and showing her to the second of the two bedrooms, May then had to convince Coulson that she was fine with sharing the other bed, and suspects the only reason he didn’t put up as much of fight is because neither of them knew how Daisy would react to an argument between the two of them, no matter how mundane. 

As a result, May was ready for bed herself, and starting to wonder how long this trial was going to last. She was making a mental list of everything they needed to do tomorrow, mildly irritated that Coulson was needed in the office relatively early, meaning she and Daisy would be on their own, when she heard it.

She glanced towards Coulson to make sure he’d come to the same conclusion, and judging by the pale look on his face, he had.

Daisy had pushed the desk chair in her room under her already locked door. 

May hoped she was simply afraid of the trial’s targets. Hoped Daisy wasn’t frightened of them. But she wasn’t quite able to convince herself.

She made a move to knock on Daisy’s door, to reassure her, before abruptly stopping. She couldn’t get involved, not in this, not in this teenager, who was both more adult and child than she should be.

She couldn’t get involved. That led to getting attached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is greatly appreciated!


	3. Involved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments and kudos! They made me happy every time I saw a new one!
> 
> Please be warned: this chapter contains a depiction of a panic attack, from an outsiders point of view.

May has never been more thankful to be done with a shopping trip. Which is saying something, considering she’s spent the majority of her life avoiding the chore by any means necessary. Her father thinks her aversion is hilarious, her mother finds it silly, and Coulson pretends to be indifferent, but she’s fairly certain he’s behind the mission prep – which was essentially a goose chase of a shopping trip – she was assigned to a year out of the academy.

Shopping with Daisy, unfortunately, topped her previously unmatched levels of irritation with shopping. Aside from the fact that she refused to specifically request anything, May had to practically pester her into agreeing with any of the items May picked out.

Her irritation built exponentially until Daisy finally revealed the reason behind her reluctance.

*

__

They finally managed to get enough clothes to last Daisy for a while, and now May was pulling out half a dozen different hygiene products and trying, unsuccessfully, to get Daisy to reveal any allergies, or even just preferred scents.

__

May was reaching the point of just dumping in a few products at random, and marching her out of the store, and was only tempered by Daisy’s growing skittishness. She’d have to hand it to the girl, if May wasn’t a trained agent, she may not have noticed the girl’s anxiety, since she was hiding it so well. May was also determinedly not thinking about the reasons behind such a skill, and instead was doing her best to hide her ever growing frustration.

__

Unfortunately, Daisy seemed to be just as good at noticing May’s annoyance, as May was at hiding it.

__

Finally, after asking, for the third time, whether Daisy was allergic to any common component of soap, and receiving, for the third time, a single shrug, May decided it was time to address the problem.

__

“Enough. You need to pick a product so that we can leave.”

__

“I’m fine with whatever.”

__

“Then you have an easy choice.” May waited for a few moments, but Daisy refused to give any response. “Now.” She emphasized, perhaps a bit too harshly, since her tone immediately yielded a subtle flinch.

__

It also, apparently, inspired Daisy to speak up. “Why?” Her voice likely sounded angry to the casual observer, and a glance at her hands revealed they were curled into fists. She probably thought her actions appeared aggressive, or angry, but May knew the gesture well enough to know her hands were really shaking. “I’m not going to be able to keep any of this. Even if you wanted me to, I can’t carry it all on the streets.”

__

The streets. Because of course she didn’t believe Maria about extended protection any more than she believed May and Coulson were here to protect her. (May refused to think about chairs under locked doors.)

__

“You won’t be returning to streets.”

__

Far from reassuring Daisy, May’s statement caused her to bristle. She was starting to wonder exactly when Daisy perfected this delinquent act, since her sneer almost covered up her quickening breaths. 

__

“I’m not going back into the system. I’ll take off if you try and make me. You all can build your own damn case.”

__

“Enough.” Despite keeping her tone softer than usual, Daisy made an aborted flinch away from her. May needed to stop her rambling however, before Daisy started to hyperventilate. “I didn’t say you were going back into the system. I said you weren’t returning to the streets. I don’t know who you think we are, but none of us would do that to a teenager.” She could see Daisy was still frightened, and wished, not for the first time that Coulson was here. He always knew how to calm down frightened kids, and jumpy assets, and Daisy is both. “Neither of us know what’s going to happen after the trial. So, take advantage of the opportunity provided for you now. “May was never any good at comforting words, but practicality, she could do. Still, “You’ll get to keep the stuff.”

__

Daisy was still positioned as far away from May as possible, without making it obvious that’s what she was doing, and held herself like she was prepared to take off at the drop of a hat. Nevertheless, she inched forward, and grabbed one of the matching body wash sets, which, as far as May was concerned was good enough.

__

She might as well cover another issue, before she has to spend three hours waiting for Daisy to decide to say anything meaningful, instead of the continual chatter she initially used to try and distract May.

__

“You can also stop trying to talk in hypotheticals about the hacking job. You’ll be given immunity soon enough.”

__

“Trying to trick me into incriminating myself?” Right, because she definitely didn’t incriminate herself by breaking into Fury’s home.

__

“Even if you tell me you broke into NASA and planted spyware on the International Space Station, the only evidence will be my word that a fifteen-year-old drop out actually managed to do it.”

__

Amazingly enough, that actually earned her a genuine smirk. “You’re one of those badasses who exploit the stereotypes against women for your own gain, aren’t you? Destroy the patriarchy from within and all that.” 

__

Somehow, May isn’t surprised the girl seems associated with social justice. 

__

Unfortunately, she’s also seeming more and more like a martyr.

__

“Maybe. That description fits a friend of mine a lot better though.”

__

Daisy still seemed fearful, despite the relatively believable front she put up, and, even if May was not going to get involved, she also wasn’t cruel, and had no desire to scare children. 

__

(But she’d kill– No. She’s not thinking about this. Not here.)

__

“How exactly did you manage to find so much incriminating evidence in the first place?” 

__

“It wasn’t that difficult. Everything’s hackable, it’s just a matter of gathering it all together. People aren’t kidding when they say the internet is forever, even if you delete and shred everything, there’s still traces left, and they usually track back to more recent, uncorrupted data.” Daisy explained. May got the feeling that if she was a bit more comfortable, the barely noticeable tinges of excitement in her tone would be closer to a full-fledged rambling lecture. Well, she might as well encourage anything that keeps Daisy from cowering away from her.

__

“Anything’s hackable then?” May repeated, pausing for Daisy to nod, “What about your systems, are they hackable?” She figured the challenge might get Daisy excited, or aggravated, enough to forget her fear.

__

“Yes. Anybody who says their systems or programs aren’t hackable is a dumbass. Mine are pretty good, but I still have to update.”

__

Well, that wasn’t exactly where she thought this would go. “Why?”

__

“It’s sort of like computer systems are an immune system, hackers or viruses are like, well, viruses, and your security programs are vaccines. The hackers and viruses change, sort of like mutating, and you have to keep updating your system, changing or adding more vaccines, or else it won’t work anymore.” Apparently, Daisy’s either decided May isn’t an immediate danger, or she really managed to distract her well enough.

__

“Interesting metaphor.”

__

“Yeah. One of the kids at the orphanage was really into the whole vaccination debate. He taught himself the basics of biology and then the nuances of vaccination just so he could argue better with his teachers about it. I picked some of it up.”

__

Yes, definitely an activist. One step away from a martyr. Damn it. 

__

Thankfully, the rest of the shopping trip passed without incident. May doubted Daisy truly believed she’d be able to keep the things they bought, but there’s nothing she could do about that now. Daisy would just have to learn for herself, in time.

__

*

Despite knowing where this conversation was headed, May felt more in control of the situation than she had all day. Where she excelled in solving problems, and executing decisions, Coulson knew how to keep a conversation, negotiation, or debate from going completely off the rails.  
Meaning that, despite her wish to immediately and concisely address and solve the problem, she was only slightly annoyed at Coulson’s beating around the bush. 

“So, how’s your classes going?” He continued with his innocuous small talk, “I know you probably only got introduced to the program, but how’s it seem?”

“Okay, I guess.” Daisy commented dryly, her voice belying her earlier excitement at the program. May could tell she was excited for the chance to learn again, which didn’t surprise her as much as it should have. 

Coulson was still working on putting her at ease, despite the fact that Daisy currently appeared the more relaxed now than any other time in the past two days. “Yeah? Are you at a good starting place?” 

“I know some of it already. Like I said I finished most of eighth. So, I’ll probably take the placement exam for the subjects.” Daisy responded, subtly sassing Coulson in a way that made May both smile and send Coulson a loaded glance – it was time.

“Listen Daisy,” he started and Daisy immediately tensed at the change in mood “you aren’t in any trouble, and you haven’t done anything wrong,” far from reassuring her, she started tensing even more, and May started to wonder if they should return to small talk. Maria hadn’t been lying when she said Daisy was skittish.

“We just wanted to talk to you about something we noticed last night.” Once Coulson finally reached his point, May noticed Daisy appeared more confused than anything now. Did she really think two trained spies weren’t going to hear her? Or was her behavior so well integrated into her routine that she didn’t see it as out of the ordinary?

Coulson, noticing her growing unease, tried to speed up the delivery. “May and I just wanted to make sure you knew you are safe. From the people involved in the trial, but also from us.” Daisy’s breath caught and didn’t restart. Cautiously, Coulson continued, “we noticed you moved a chair under your door last night,” May leaned forward as Coulson continued to talk, “and if you need or want to do that, it’s completely okay, you can do whatever you need to feel safe. Well, within reason, I’d appreciate it if you don’t booby trap anything.” He tried to joke, but May could tell the joke fell flat even before Daisy started shaking. “We just want you to know that it’s not necessary, that you’re safe with us, and we’ll respect your privacy.”

Daisy finally started breathing again, and May was relieved for the split second it took her to see her breaths coming too quickly. Daisy tried to jolt out of her chair, but quickly fell back into it, dizzy from the beginning of her panic attack.

May and Coulson exchanged worried looks. They’d both dealt with panic attacks before, from their coworkers and friends, and occasionally from themselves. But they had training. They could calm themselves down using techniques Daisy may not even be aware of, and they had aid in trusted friends, not in near strangers.

But this was happening now, and no matter how out of her depth May felt, the frightened fifteen-year-old in front of them felt much worse.

Kneeling down in front of Daisy, May gestured for Coulson to back off, hoping the girl would feel less crowded with only one of them, and knowing the topic of conversation, she was likely a less threatening presence than Coulson. Hopefully.

“Daisy, no one’s going to touch you. You need to breath, okay? Breath in for four seconds – it’s okay, you can do this. Breath in, two, three, four. And out, for seven seconds. We don’t need to talk about anything Daisy, you’ll be fine soon. You just need to breath.”

If this were Natasha sitting in front of her, May would have pulled her hair into a pony-tail, let the cool air help her feel less claustrophobic. As it was, May doubted Daisy would appreciate any contact. Not from a stranger, much less from one who just helped trigger this attack in the first place.

May watched as Daisy’s eyes flickered towards Coulson. Then towards the door.

She couldn’t let Daisy leave the house. Not unaccompanied and certainly not like this, so she turned and waved at Coulson to leave, hoping Daisy would feel less frightened if his cautious retreat was fully completed.

Daisy flinched when she raised her hand.

*

May and Coulson were sitting silently on the bed. 

It took Daisy nearly thirty minutes to run the course of her attack, and another hour to calm down completely. Finally, spent from the exertion, Daisy left to go to sleep, after May told her to do what she needed to feel safe.

They both heard her shove a chair under the door. 

“We can’t look past this.” Coulson stated, sounding resigned. May knew he’d start sounding angry soon, for Daisy, the way he started sounding angry for Natasha three days after she ended up at SHIELD, and two days before she scared off her first psychiatrist. 

“No.”

“We’ll talk to Hill, or Fury. We can play the stability card, for the trial, if we have too. Make sure she gets therapy, can continue after the trial” He stated, curling his hands into fists.

“We won’t have to.”

There wasn’t anything to say. They could both be as angry as they wanted, Daisy would still be waiting for one of them to open her door.

They both forced themselves into bed. 

She wasn’t supposed to get involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is appreciated!
> 
> If possible, let me know how you feel about the pace of the story (too slow, to fast, or pretty good). I'm a bit worried about that aspect.


	4. Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments and kudos! They're fantastic motivation!
> 
> Disclaimer: There is Mandarin in this chapter. I do not speak the language, and have only Google to refer to. As such, if anyone with more experience in the language has corrections or tips on how to make the phrase (or any future dialogue) more authentic/appropriate just let me know.

Daisy was sneaking around to the living room. She knew May got up a lot earlier than Coulson, or herself for that matter, but she was hoping to catch her before returning to their quickly established routine – school and paperwork. She didn’t know what she was hoping to accomplish, but after last night there was no way she’d be able to sit in awkward silence at the breakfast table, no matter how good Coulson’s stupid pancakes were.

May helped her, despite clearly wishing she wasn’t responsible for a troublemaking fifteen-year-old, she helped her, successfully. It’s not that nobody had ever tried to help Daisy when she was panicking, Matt spent several sleepless nights trying to convince her that the world wasn’t really ending and she wasn’t really dying, but he wasn’t much more successful at that, than Daisy was at keeping the world from screaming at him.

Mrs. Brody also tried, but there’s only so much promises of chocolate and pats on her head can help.

May succeeded. Which made sense, Daisy guessed, considering she’s a secret agent and probably faced traumatic events on a monthly basis without any movie magic to keep the repercussions away from her and her friends. She may also secretly be a ninja, judging by her fancy yoga-dance moves Daisy was currently watching.

She wasn’t exactly sure what to say to her. Especially, since she didn’t want to touch the preceding conversation with a ten-foot pole – since, of course they heard her chair trick, it’s not like she’s learned how to keep that as quite as possible, not at all – but figured a thank you would start. And hopefully get May to explain exactly how her calming breathing trick worked.

But that’s step two. Daisy wasn’t entirely sure when she decided it was safe to make plans like that, to make plans to bother her, but here she was, and –

“Are you going to come in?” May called.

Shit. “Yeah, uh, I just wanted to say thanks? For last night.” May glanced at her and continued to move like some sort of warrior goddess, and great that sounded like a question. “So, thank you. You’re the first person who really helped with–” May sent a sharper glance this time, and Daisy started backtracking, “I mean Matt tried, at St. Agnes, but he wasn’t really good with this himself so...” Apparently, her main goal this morning was to make everything as awkward as humanly possible. “But, the trick you used, it was really helpful.”  
May nodded again, her lips pursed in a way that Daisy was pretty sure was supposed to be annoyed but didn’t really seem like it.

“I was happy to help.” Right, is this a go away happy-to-help or a continue complimenting me happy-to-help. Probably the first, since she didn’t really seem the type to fish for compliments. “St. Agnes?”

Apparently, it was a change the subject happy-to-help. And great, erasing your digital footprint doesn’t really help if you tell people about it. Well, too late now.

“Yeah, I got dumped there as a baby. The nuns put me in the system there.” Daisy was fairly certain May was only engaging her to get some sort of incriminating evidence, but her words yesterday dissuaded Daisy from leaving. She still wanted that breathing trick.

“As a baby. They named you Daisy then? I thought nuns keep to biblical names.”

Daisy snorted, earning her a side-eye from May and what might have been a smirk. Possibly. From certain angles. “They didn’t name me Daisy. And no, I’m not going to tell you what they named me.” That earned her a raised eyebrow, Jesus, this woman takes nonverbal communication to the extreme. “It’s not even for security, it’s just a really bad name.”

“Maybe I should go look it up then.” 

“Good luck, according to the internet I don’t exist.” A questioning eyebrow this time. This was getting ridiculous. “I erased myself a while ago, the internet’s only forever if you stick to the legal boundaries.”

May’s expression changed slightly, but enough that Daisy could read it. Or she might have. But there was no way she looked impressed. She was not getting approval from a tool of the system. She also definitely didn’t want approval from a tool of the system. Just no.

Daisy was starting to wonder if May was specifically allowing Daisy to read her expressions, since there’s no way a spy should be that easy to read. Unless she really is a desk jockey. Somehow, Daisy still doubted that. She moved way too much like a fighter to have a life of paperwork.

“You named yourself Daisy then?”

This is definitely not where she expected the conversation to go. But, she hadn’t felt this at ease talking to someone for years. May talked so little it was easy to check her words for double meanings, and she was moving so slowly Daisy barely felt the need to track her hands. Which was all stupid of course. May and Coulson were probably more dangerous than all her foster parents combined. 

Still. Her gut was rarely wrong. (That’s because not trusting is the default, her mind whispered.) And she might as well try this. (Her mind hissed about this being a bad idea, but, it also told her Fury was as likely to sweep the accusations under the rug as he was to fix them, and, instead, he’s conducting an above-board trial. Ironic, considering SHIELD usually invents the shadows they within.)

“No.” May couldn’t do anything with this story anyway, it’s not like she’ll show her the necklace, just tell her. “I named myself Skye actually. But, before I ran away, I found this necklace I was left with as a kid.” May hummed, which was almost verbal, so Daisy figured this was going well. “It had something carved on the back. I looked it up not that long ago. It actually took a long time, to find matching pictures and then to translate it. It turned out that the necklace was traditionally Chinese, and the inscription translated to Daisy, so I figured it was what my parents named me.”

May nodded. Daisy was about to get up and leave. She could always search Google for that trick, when she spoke, “Most traditional pieces aren’t engraved. At least, not in the cultures I know of.”

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty obviously mixed, so…” She was surprised, and a little hopeful. May hadn’t liked her before, but maybe she passed some sort of test last night. Some really weird convoluted test. But it’s not like she’s a stranger to those – both taking and giving them.

“Were you able to find them?” 

“Huh?”

Now May sent her an exasperated glance, and Daisy realized they were still talking about her parents, “No, not really, it’s kinda complicated.” Her voice trailed off near the end. 

She knew May wouldn’t be impressed if she told her why she initially hacked into SHIELD – to look for more of that redacted document. Daisy had just stumbled across the corruption. At least initially. After seeing the first part, she looked for more. Either way, she needed a diversion.

“Honestly, I really wish they’d left something more though, if they had to leave me there, or didn’t want me.” May pursed her lips but continued in her routine. Daisy couldn’t tell if she’d been building up to questions about the hacking job, or if she was just irritated with the slight non sequitur. “It took me forever just to figure out that I was part Chinese, and I still don’t know anything more specific than that. I’m just, missing out on a lot of stuff, I guess.”

May’s eyes flicked over toward Daisy. She’s now almost positive May was making it easier for her to read her expressions earlier. Since Daisy was totally lost now.

“Mandarin is spoken almost everywhere in China.” May finally spoke, almost, softly. Which, is potentially just a subject change away from the emotionally charged topic they were just on. Daisy was fine with that, she didn’t really do emotions, at least not her own emotions, but May was looking at her like there was some sort of heavy significance to the last statement. 

“Okay?” Daisy tried to prompt. Hoping she’d managed to express her confusion, without sounding dismissive.

“Learning the language can help you understand the culture. Connect with it.” Oh. Well, that’s not where she thought this was going, but, admittedly, it felt nice for someone to offer an idea about how to satisfy some of that need, instead of dismissing the void all together. Daisy started to thank May, to say she’d add it to her courses on Coulson’s, or maybe SHIELD’s, online program, when May said, “I can teach you.”

“Wait, really?” Daisy was well aware her jaw was on the floor, but she was too amazed to bother with it. If May called out her bad manners, she’d just apologize.

“Yes. It’s best to learn from a native speaker.” Still too amazed to do much more than stare at Agent May, who, possibly, doesn’t actually hate her, since she’s offering to teach her Mandarin. May finally comments, “You should learn to take advantage of the opportunities presented to you.” 

Now sounding put-off, because Daisy apparently has already learned to speak, super-spy un-inflected-inflections, and moving to finish her routine, May simply raises an eyebrow when Daisy half shouts, “Yes! I mean, yes, please, I’d love to learn.”

She still nods. “We’ll have a lesson after breakfast.”

*

Managing Strike Team Delta was infinitely easier when May was around to complain to. And when he didn’t have to think about scared to death teenagers who carefully watched his reactions when she sassed him and was only able to stop panicking when he was two rooms away. And when his team wasn’t incessantly trying to learn about his new twenty-four-seven mission.

He’s pretty sure they’re worried he’s training a new team. Because they both have abandonment issues, and Fury rarely tells him to keep them in the dark about his assignments. 

So, he’s exhausted. 

But also, excited to see May and Daisy, which should worry him a lot more than it does, mostly because he’s pretending there’s nothing to worry about.

Still, he thinks he’s getting himself into trouble, as he picks up take out for them both, and settles down to eat with them, like someone who teaches history during the day, instead of planning a covert mission to infiltrate Azerbaijan.

“So, the program’s working well?” Coulson asked Daisy, “Are you having any trouble?”

“It’s fine. And no, seriously, I’m not stupid, everything’s ridiculously well-explained.”

“No, no, I know you’re not stupid,” Coulson almost stumbled over his words as he rushed to reassure her. May was pretending she wasn’t snickering in the background, but he didn’t want Daisy to have any reason to distrust him –

“Chill, it was sarcasm.” Daisy said, sounding far too pleased with his flustered response. May wasn’t trying to hide her amusement now. They’ve teamed up. Great. 

Coulson isn’t sure if he’s pleased, or scared.

“Right, very teenager-y.” Coulson responded, hoping to derail this situation. Judging by Daisy’s Cheshire Cat grin and May’s arched eyebrow, he wasn’t quite successful. Still, Daisy stuck out her tongue at him, “Ah, and we’ve reverted to pre-pubescence.” He teased.

“You’re not one to talk.” May teased back, “You’re not really known for your feats of maturity.”

Coulson was too busy scowling about her response, “You’re never going to let that go, are you?” To appreciate the moment. Later he’ll realize, this is the first time May’s sustained that particular mischievous attitude since Bahrain. It’s also when he realizes they’re all well and truly screwed. He is cognizant of Daisy’s curious look, however, and realizes he definitely needs to derail this conversation. 

“So, did you enjoy the meal Daisy? I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

“Yeah, it’s great! I seriously will eat anything, but this was good.” But then Daisy seemed to hesitate. Coulson was half hoping she’d offer some sort of criticism or a request for future meals, since, despite her sarcasm, Daisy had yet to make any serious entreaties of them. 

Instead, Daisy bit her lip before glancing towards May and saying, “Fēicháng gânxiè nǐ.” (Thank you very much.)

“Mandarin?” Coulson asked, and his eyes almost widened as May gave Daisy an approving nod. 

“May said she’d teach me.” Daisy responded, her smile growing, making her look more genuinely excited than Coulson had seen her yet.

So, he simply smiled and nodded at her, “That sounds great.”

Maybe he isn’t the only one getting himself into trouble.

*

“So, Mandarin?” Coulson asked. May’s only response was a jerk of her head as she continued looking over a file. “I think it’s great that you’re getting along. Hopefully she’ll feel safer with closer interaction.” She now glanced up at him long enough for him to see the disapproving slant of her eyebrows and mouth. So, maybe he’s a little disappointed Daisy didn’t seem to like him. Kids usually love him. Even ex-Russian assassins like him.

Come to think of it, Natasha did talk to May first. Or communicate silently with her first.

Either way it was effective. Just as effective as May’s silence was now – if you’re that upset about it, do something. It probably wasn’t a good thing that May wasn’t warning him off of attachment. 

But then, he knew they were pretty much screwed the moment Daisy sassed them upon meeting them. Inside a technically only half-existent government facility, where they all knew about her potentially world-ending hacking skills. 

Coulson’s still not sure that’s an exaggeration. 

“What’s that?” Coulson asked, determined not to think about this any longer, hoping May might tell him the details of some newbie agent who can’t file paperwork any better than they can pull off a solo mission. 

“An update about the trial.” Great.

“Is a date set? I didn’t think they’d sent out all the arrest warrants yet.”

“They sent them out last night. Simultaneously.” Which meant there was concern for organized resistance. Increasing the expected amount of danger Daisy was in by a lot. So much for a subject change.

“I’ve got paperwork to do tomorrow, so I’ll be here as well.” Coulson said. “I need to finalize a Delta mission.”

May finished flicking through the pages and handed him the file with a raised eyebrow. Asking about their mission. “Nothing major,” he responded, “a few days at the most.”

“I’ll go talk to Hill tomorrow. Or Fury.” May stated. 

“Wait. Shouldn’t we both be here. Increase the protection on Daisy?”

“We need to get her therapy. It’ll take only take a few hours. Just don’t leave the house, it’s easily defended.”

“Mmm,” Coulson agreed, nodding, “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble. I think Maria has a soft spot for her,” Coulson smiled, “asked about her a few times now.”

“Good. I won’t have to threaten them with paperwork.” 

“They still think I helped with that.”

“Of course, they do. They also think you helped me with pranks at the academy.”

“That’s because you framed me.”

“Why would I do that?”

Coulson was suppressing a smile, but it was difficult with May’s joking. He was about to retort when they both heard a muffled giggle from the hallway. Turning, Coulson grinned, “How long have you been there?”

Daisy smirked wider this time, clearly reassured by his and May’s continued amusement. “I caught the tail end of May’s threat.” Snickering again, she asked “How exactly do you threaten someone with paperwork.”

He was about to answer when he caught May’s twitching lips, “You’ll understand when you’re older.” She said, and Coulson couldn’t help but laugh at the comically incredulous look on Daisy’s face.

“Are you – you can’t be serious,” she exclaimed, but May kept a straight face, “next you’ll be telling me these files are all ‘Classified,’” Daisy continued.

She started to reach for a file to punctuate her point, and unable to resist, Coulson reached towards the file, halting her approach, “Sorry, that’s Classified,” he joked, unable to keep from smiling at her increasingly outraged look.

As Daisy huffed, and made a show of grumbling to herself, May nodded to them both, and left, concealing her smile on the way out with, “Need to make a call. Above both your clearance levels.”

This time it was Daisy laughing at the surprised look on Coulson’s face. She probably thought it was the joke, and not the fact that, for the first time in over ten years, May was bickering like they were still at the academy. 

He was drawn from his musings when Daisy snorted. “So are you two lowkey dating, or just in some sort of mutual forever pining stage.” She laughed again at his shock, “Wait, lemme guess you two are secretly married and think nobody notices the lovesick stares.”

“No, Daisy, it’s, we aren’t like that.” Her lips pursed together, probably in the effort to keep from bursting out laughing, “It’s complicated.”

This time she couldn’t conceal her snort, “Yeah, you know, that’s what old people say when they should really just ask each other out.”

Coulson rolled his eyes but found that he couldn’t really be too irritated with her. Not knowing how much more comfortable she must be feeling around him, to tease him about something like this. 

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for bed?”

Still laughing, Daisy danced off, “Yeah, yeah, wouldn’t want to keep you up, old man.”

Yeah, they were definitely getting themselves into trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is appreciated!


	5. Therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback!! You're all keeping me motivated :-)

“Hey,” Coulson grimaced as Daisy jumped, clearly not expecting to see him, “couldn’t sleep?”

She shrugged, but just as Coulson was worried he’d need to make a tactful retreat to preserve the progress they’ve been making, Daisy smiled at him. He felt a rush of relief course through him, and smiled inwardly as she asked, “Where’s May?”

“She had to go to SHIELD for a little bit,” Coulson jolted as Daisy raised an eyebrow in response. Every day, Daisy reminded him more and more of May, but unfortunately, that’s not something he can think about right now. He wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but he’s been left with the task to inform Daisy of her impending therapy appointment, on his own. He’s almost positive May orchestrated it, but, regrettably, he can’t prove anything.

“Right,” he started, “I actually needed to talk to you about that.” He watched as Daisy stiffened and was now mentally adjusting his goal from acceptance of the appointment to finishing this conversation without inducing a panic attack. “It’s nothing bad, really, May and I just thought it would be good for you to talk to someone.”

Judging by her expression, that was not what Daisy had been expecting. Unfortunately, when she caught on to what he was saying, pure outrage replaced the confusion. “What!” She exclaimed, “a shrink. Oh, Hell, no, I am not seeing some jacked up loon with a fake med degree.” 

Apparently, she was either no longer scared of him, or he’d actually managed to piss her off enough that she forgot to be frightened. Coulson watched as a flash of worry crossed her face, widening her eyes and mouth, before she hardened. So, probably the latter. 

“Daisy,” Coulson kept his voice soft, not wanting to reaffirm her fears. “I promise there’s no underhanded ulterior motives here.” She pursed her lips even more, her shoulders tensing. She was preparing for a fight. Or maybe just to run, he reconsidered, if her half glances toward the front door were any indication. 

“Look, you’ve been having panic attacks and we both know you aren’t entirely comfortable here.” Coulson continued, hoping to diffuse this situation before anything broke. “And I get it, for all we know, it’s just the whole government agent thing putting you on edge. Or it’s something different, something from before you knew us.” Daisy hissed out a breath, and looked, if anything, more likely to punch him now than a few minutes before. God, why does May think he’s good at this?

“I don’t know what experiences you’ve had with therapists -”

“I’m a system stray, what do you think?” She hissed at him, and he’s almost surprised at the venom in her tone.

“Okay, I understand, but I promise SHIELD therapists aren’t that bad.” He rushed to finish, “At the very least they could teach you coping strategies. For your panic attacks.”

For the first time, Coulson saw a flash of interest cross her face. Mixed with suspicion. Well, he might as well play on that. 

“Besides, it could help for the trial. Ensure you remain credible.” 

Daisy raised her eyebrows, looking decidedly unimpressed, and, yeah, maybe this was a bad idea. Still, a flash of understanding colored her face, and she gave a decisive nod. 

Coulson bit his lip, wondering if he’d broken whatever trust she had in him by confessing their second motivation. Even if it’s for the greater good, even if their first thought was always for her well-being, not her credibility, he can’t imagine it’s nice to hear a suspicion like that reaffirmed, not for someone who’s spent so long by herself, without anyone to care for her unconditionally. And great, now he feels like an asshole. 

He opens his mouth to clarify. To explain that the trial’s just a way to get SHEILD to agree, but that he hopes she’ll give it a chance anyway, when Daisy smiles, and leans against the countertop.

“I didn’t know teenage hackers with no recorded background had credibility.” She nearly laughed, looking almost relaxed.

Which meant he passed some sort of test. It would be great if he knew what test. Or that he’d been taking one. Or maybe he actually failed, and she’s faking –

Wait – “No recorded background?” Daisy’s face transformed into something taunting, he could practically hear her in the background – you sure you wanna know, old man? – and as she opened her mouth, probably to voice the sentiment, he waved his hand shaking his head, “You know, never mind, I don’t need to know. I think I’ll keep my knowledge of your felonies to things you’ve been given immunity for.”

Daisy just laughed, reaffirming his assumption that whatever she did was very illegal. He can’t ever make friends with easy people, can he? No, he has to defend only-sort-of-defected and half-feral Russian assassins, and smart-ass sharpshooters who can literally pin a fly from a hundred yards but can’t name half the emotions he experiences, and, apparently, skittish teenage geniuses who can violate the first rule of the internet – everything’s permanent. 

He’s struck by a sudden all-consuming hope that this trial goes well. And that Fury and Hill can convince the pseudo-anarchist in front of him to join, or at least work with, SHIELD. Aside from liking Daisy, and not wanting to see her imprisoned or tracked as a threat, he’s suddenly not so confident his side would win. 

Daisy’s voice jerked him out of his musings, “Speaking of the trial,” she started, “When exactly, is that going to be happening?”

We’re apparently ignoring the therapy thing then. “Warrants and subpoenas have just been sent out. So, we should start in a few weeks. The timeline depends on SHELD’s … role,” and yeah they probably deserve that particular unimpressed look on her face. “It’s nothing bad,” he reassures, “we don’t bribe or blackmail anyone,” usually, “we just expedite paper work, move up dates, that sort of thing, if it’s needed.”

“So, soon then?” She confirmed. At his nod, she asked, “And, there’s still a protection plan for me, right? Because if not, I need time to plan my disappearance.”

“There is most defiantly still a protection plan.” He nodded to punctuate his point, “but you don’t need to worry about that right now. If SHIELD doesn’t need to interfere, then the trials could take months, or longer. It all depends.” 

He’s decidedly not thinking about teenage girls who can confidently imply they can disappear from major crime bosses. He’s not sure if she’s right, disappearing in person can be a lot different from disappearing online. But, for all he knows, she’s friends with forgers and smugglers.

On second thought, she probably _is_ friends with forgers and smugglers. Which, he really can’t think about right now.

Deciding it was time for a topic change, Coulson jumped up, slowly, since Daisy was still skittish. “What’s your favorite breakfast food?” He asked, smiling at Daisy’s bewilderment.

“I dunno, I’ll eat anything.”

“Yes, I know, but what’s your favorite?” He asked again but decided not to push as Daisy shrugged her shoulders. “How ‘bout pancakes? I make some pretty good pancakes.”

Daisy smiled in response, and then, almost tentatively, said, “I could help?”

Immediately, Coulson’s grin became genuine, spreading across his face. “I’d love some help.” He exclaimed. “Chocolate chips or fruit?”

“Chocolate, duh, who’d pick fruit over that?” Daisy responded, her grin matching his own.

*

“What is Agent May doing here?” Hill asked Fury, “I thought her and Coulson were working from home today.”

“They were.” Fury replied carefully glancing over at May, where she appeared to be arguing with an assistant. Abruptly, May turned away and started towards Fury’s office, much to the dismay of the intern she left behind. “Well, shit.”

“What?”

“I haven’t seen that look since I sent Romanoff on a Honeypot mission without consulting her therapist.”

“Don’t remind me, May and Coulson buried us both in paperwork for a month.”

That’s as far as the two of them got before May unceremoniously opened the door on their very classified meeting. 

“Daisy needs therapy. I suggest Dr. Lorrel.” She stated, before simply staring at the two of them. Fury half expected her to hand him the filled-out paperwork and insist on a signature. But maybe that particular act of drama was reserved for Coulson. 

“This is a classified meeting Agent May.” Fury responded instead.

“So is Daisy.”

Which, he figures, answers the question to how pissed May is about him pulling her from admin. She normally, at least, pretends to care about procedure. 

Hill interrupted, “Why does she need therapy.”

May responded by raising an eyebrow at Hill. “You noticed her anxiety first, Hill, why don’t you tell us.” She responded sharply. 

Hill simply blinked before glancing toward Fury, seeing her shock mirrored, and similarly hidden on his face. 

May was never cruel, but she was pointed. When necessary. Usually, she defined ‘necessary’ as whenever Coulson was potentially in danger. Her apparent concern for her current ward meant she’d gotten a bit more attached than Fury originally planned.

“I noticed she was skittish.” Hill responded, “I don’t have any idea why, but I imagine the last couple years she’s spent on the streets is a contributing factor.”

“She’s had several panic attacks over the past week. She needs therapy.”

Fury rubbed his head silently. “I’m surprised you aren’t bringing up her credibility at the trial.” He asked, testing the waters.

“Do I need too.” She responded. A statement, not a question, since she, unfortunately, already knows the answer. He sent a half glare at Hill, certain she’s the source of May’s confidence.

“I’ll speak with Dr. Lorrel. He’s still Natasha’s therapist?” Hill responded. At May’s nod, she continued, “Okay, he’ll probably have an opening soon. He might even be willing come over this evening. You know how he is.”

May nodded in response, not even glancing at him. “Sir,” She stated as she walked out the door. Somehow managing to convey her Screw You And All Your Plans sentiment with the barest action.

Fury glared at Hill, not at all pleased. He’d have given the girl therapy, of course, he wasn’t a monster, but he’d been hoping remind Agent May of the mission, in the process. It wouldn’t do, having her and Coulson get too attached to the hacker. At least not yet.

“Don’t look at me like that, sir.” Hill said, without any of the respect usually accompanying the honorific. He’d wonder if Director Carter had to deal with this particular brand of insolence, but remembered he’d been the one to dish it out back then. He really hates karma. “You knew exactly what you were doing. Placing Daisy with May and Coulson.”

Yes, he did. Doesn’t mean he has to like the side effects. 

*

Daisy was officially pissed. Again. 

When Coulson had told her she’d be seeing a shrink, she didn’t think he meant she’d be seeing a shrink in approximately twelve hours.

Then again, she didn’t think he knew it’d be that soon either. But when May walked back in the house, carrying groceries of all things, because, apparently, super spies still go to supermarkets, and informed them Daisy would be seeing a Dr. Lorrel at six o’clock today, there wasn’t much she could do.

She was also confused. Because the person sitting in front of her was not anything like she expected. With blue colored hair, and half a dozen visible piercings, he looked a lot more like one of her hacking buddies than a secret agent accomplice of Big Brother. 

“So,” great, he’s talking, “based on the rather poisonous looks you’ve been sending my way, you know who I am.” Daisy blinked, “Or do you not like my hair?” He grinned as her confusion grew. She was half tempted to call May of Coulson in. Tell them their shrink’s definitely not a shrink, not any kind she’s seen. 

Oh, he’s waiting for an answer. “Uhhh, your hair’s fine.”

“It’s okay if it’s not. I can’t imagine I look like a very well-educated therapist. It’s not an uncommon thought.” He smiled at her.

“Well, I generally hate shrinks, so you’re actually off to a good start, not looking like one and all.” Daisy responded, just enough off balanced to respond with truth. Which, great. That’s probably his plan. Fantastic. She hates it when stuff like that works. She’s also definitely not at all curious about the…glitter?...on his clothes.

“You look like some of my hacking...acquaintances.” She said finally, because of course SHEILD doesn’t have problems with a man wearing glitter on his clothes with blue hair. They couldn’t possibly be a normal government agency she could just universally hate. No, of course not. 

“I’m glad,” he responded, “I never much liked the suit and tie look.” He grinned at her. “Thankfully, I’m good enough at my job that no one can force me to comply with their dress code.” Because clearly, he’s reading her mind. “What about you?” he asked.

“Do I like suits?” At his nod, Daisy shrugged, “I guess? I don’t really have an opinion.” 

He simply nodded, but before he could actually begin talking about apparel again, Daisy interrupted, “Are we going to talk about clothes for the next hour?” She asked, “‘Cause, I’m pretty sure that’s not your job.”

“We can talk about whatever you want. Including clothes.” He responded, “What do you think we’re supposed to be talking about?”

Daisy rolled her eyes, of course, get the patient lead to the topic, avoid stressing them, make them define their comfort zone implicitly, yadah yadah yadah. Maybe he is a shrink. 

Still. If she’s going to be forced to talk to him. She never did figure out how to ask May about the breathing trick. “I want to know how to calm myself down from a panic attack.”

He smiled. “Wonderful topic,” he practically effused. 

So what, his trick might have worked. But Daisy’s getting that tool. With any luck, she’ll be able to convince May and Coulson that this is all unneeded anyway.

And she’ll be able to calm herself down. Even if wherever, or to whoever, she’s going next won’t help. She’ll have that.

She still doesn’t like shrinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!


	6. Attacked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback! It motivates me A LOT!

May knew something was wrong as soon as the van slowed to a stop in front of the house.

It’d been enough time since the warrants were released that she’d started to hope Daisy was hidden enough not to attract any attention, but now May was cursing that leniency as she lunged for her gun and shouted for Daisy.

Immediately, the girl ran from the other room, “What, what’s –” 

“Not now.” May interrupted, “Come with me –”

She broke off when she heard the first gunshot, running forward and slamming Daisy to the ground to cover her, thankful the safe house had bulletproof windows. It wouldn’t hold for long, not with the barrage occurring outside, but it provided her enough time to get them both out of any sightlines. Rolling off of her, “Are you good?” May barely waited for the girl’s wide-eyed nod before dragging her to cover in a crouch.

May had already clicked the safety off her gun, but the hail of bullets prevented her from moving.

Glancing at Daisy, she noticed the girl’s eyes were closed, her breathing measured – panic attacks, she’s calming herself down – and that Daisy wasn’t bleeding, before turning back to the scene in front of her.

She pressed the alarm button on her phone, hoping Coulson and SHIELD would see the alert soon enough to help, before turning back to Daisy.

“Daisy, listen to me,” her eyes opened enough to zero in on May (she’s going to be scared), “when I say ‘now’ I need you to run to the garage. Go through the side door. Get to the car and get in. It’s bullet proof. I’ll be right behind you. Stay as low to the ground as you can but go quick.”

Daisy nodded jerkily, hands balled into fists, but she wasn’t hyperventilating. Not yet, at least.

May nodded back, before turning, sliding out from behind the cover, and returning fire, “Now!” She shouted out and heard Daisy sprint towards the door.

May twisted, continuing to fire, as she followed Daisy, when she heard her scream.

Turning back, she saw one of the intruders burst in the through the side door, grateful that Daisy had ducked behind the door when he’d forced his way in, instead of jumping back, May quickly returned his fire.

As soon as he fell, she rushed towards Daisy, but the child was clearly terrified, shaking and too petrified to move.

(Grab her, and run like Hell.)

And May did.

*

“I can’t believe you didn’t notice getting shot.” Coulson fussed, incessantly pacing behind the medic. 

May would have been convinced his theatrics were just to reassure Daisy, who, after receiving a light sedative and a detailed explanation about how May was going to be fine, seemed almost amused at his Mother-Henning, but she knew his tells, and he was genuinely worried.

Knowing he couldn’t really be worried about the wound, they both knew she’d be fine, she could only assume it was her inattention to the injury that worried him. Still,

“Grazed.”

“With a bullet, meaning you were shot.”

“You didn’t have that attitude in Puerto Ayacucho.”

Coulson was about to respond, probably to defend why hiding a bullet wound was completely reasonable when they were fleeing the mafia in Venezuela, but only for him, of course. She’d used to think it was chauvinism, but then saw how melodramatically he reacted to Clint’s hidden stab wound, and concluded it was just Coulson. 

(It wasn’t a severe injury, but Coulson was upset he didn’t go to medical despite being within walking distance from half-a-dozen trained surgeons.)

But then Hill walked in.

She smiled at Daisy, “How are you?”

“Well, I was just shot at, but Agent May here is apparently a ninja, so all good.” Daisy snarked back.

Hill just smiled, as May rolled her eyes, “Good. And you, May?”

“Well, I’m apparently a ninja, so I imagine I’ll be magically healing any minute now,” she responded, and Daisy’s muffled laugh was worth the slightly surprised look Hill and Coulson exchanged.

“Okay, well, I need to speak to the two of you soon,” Hill started, shaking her head at Daisy’s indignant look, and, thankfully, heading off her protests about inclusion, “We three just need to discuss the technicalities of the arrangement, I’m going to give you all a brief update now.”

At the groups nod, Hill continued, “We’re moving the trials up, through our more persuasive means, so we’ll be starting any day now. Your location is going to be reclassified, at a higher level –”

“Was there a leak?” Daisy interrupted.

Hill raised an eyebrow at her, and Daisy flushed slightly before setting her jaw and continuing, “SHIELD’s the only group that knows I gathered the information, and you’re reclassifying the information, which sorta suggests there’s a leak,” Daisy bit her lip slightly before restarting, “and you know some of the people on the list are in SHIELD, so it wouldn’t be that surprising.”

Hill watched her steadily before responding, “We’re looking into it. That’s possible, or someone may have hacked in,” here she quirked her lips at Daisy, probably hoping for a laugh, “or any number of other explanations. The important thing now is that we keep you safe, and get this trial done with as soon as possible. Once it’s over, most won’t bother anymore. Okay?” 

May knew she was impressed at Daisy’s assessment, considering the trauma she’d just endured and the sedative she was currently influenced by, but in all honesty May was no longer surprised at Daisy. She adapted spectacularly well. May figured she had to learn that skill, if the complete lack of stability she seemed to have experienced, in the system and then on the streets, was any indication. 

Daisy pursed her lips but nodded.

“Alright, tonight you three will be staying in one of the larger on-base apartments, and we’ll decide where to go from there, tomorrow.” Hill finished.

“It may be best for us to stay on base, or in another SHIELD facility, until the trial ends.” Coulson responded. 

“That’s one of the options,” Hill started, before being abruptly being cut off by the arrival of Coulson’s strike team, who apparently, despite the updated security, can still break into the med bay without alerting anyone, judging by the lack of fuss at their arrival. May imagined they’d just have to wait and see if they’re still as adept at breaking out, as well.

“This meeting is above both your clearance levels,” Hill reprimanded, but was met only with rolled eyes.

“Uhh, haven’t a bunch of random medical people been walking past?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, but medical professionals in SHIELD are almost exclusively part of the higher levels, especially the ones here on base.” Coulson responded, “Otherwise, they’d know far too much information they shouldn’t.”

“Right,” Daisy said, sounding exceptionally skeptical. 

“Not a fan of levels, hmm” Natasha smiled, almost predatorily. 

May was about to caution Natasha, tell her to cut the threatening persona she liked to adopt around strangers, when Daisy responded, “Doesn’t seem like you do either,” faux innocence in her words, “breaking into classified meetings. Where’s your sense of propriety?”

A glint appeared in Natasha’s eyes, and she leaned forward, “Oh, you know, Clint here tripped and fell, needs medical attention.”

Clint rolled his eyes dramatically before clutching his head and whimpering, “I must have a concussion, we need safer stairs here, I should send in a maintenance request.” 

“You do that Barton,” Coulson said dryly, “I’ll set in next to your request for explosive arrows.”

“You wound me, those arrows would be awesome.” Clint teased, “and I have to keep asking you, where else will I get cool toys like that.”

“Start wearing spandex,” Hill said, “Apparently, superheroes use that sort of junk.”

May wasn’t surprised when she heard Coulson gasp out a response, “Captain America and the Howling Commandos did not use junk!” simultaneously with Clint’s “Ha, as if, I’ll become a merch first.”

Despite the exchange, May was still surprised when Natasha perched herself on a nearby chair arm and started bantering with Daisy. Although, she supposed, Natasha might enjoy the presence of another person who didn’t flinch at the sight of her. Even though Daisy doesn’t know who she is, or any of the stories about her, the change of pace must feel nice.

Splitting her attention, May also listened to Coulson and Hill discussing Daisy’s school work, and was unsurprised, given her own work with Daisy, to hear Coulson remark that she was progressing quickly in almost every subject, is phenomenal in pattern recognition, but struggles with the science portions of the program, partially from her poor background and partially, in May’s opinion, from her expectation that she’d do poorly.

Allowing both conversations to fade into the background, May finally allowed herself to think about the day. 

Daisy was safe, May kept her safe, and at that thought, a flood of gratitude rushed through her.

She wasn’t really sure when it happened, but she definitely got involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated! Also, this is the first time I've (ever) written an action scene, so I'd really appreciate constructive criticism on that part!
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying it!


	7. Trials and Tribulations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the feedback!
> 
> Warning: A mild panic attack/beginning of a panic attack is depicted in this chapter.

“You collected this information, Miss Daisy?” the sharply dressed lawyer asked, walking across the court room, having just read aloud the extensive collection of evidence Daisy had gathered against the Castelluccio family.

“Yes.”

“And you can, to your knowledge, confirm that all of the information is accurate?”

“Yes.”

“So, to the best of your knowledge, the Castelluccio is responsible for no less than four assassinations, bribing multiple public figures, and blackmailing members of the DC police department, among all their other crimes.”

At this the defense attorney jumped up, “Objection, your honor, asked and answered.”

“Sustained.”

Despite this, the prosecutor simply smiled and returned to her seat, “No further questions.”

Based on her attitude, Daisy imagined this trial was going well, which would be a lot more reassuring, if a significant portion of the Italian mob wasn’t glaring at her across the court room. Still, Daisy was glad this would be one of the few trials she actually had to attend. Her testimony in the Castelluccio trial was going to be applied to most of the other cases, as allowed by the judge.

She still has to attend some of the trials, but, thankfully, not all of them. Which considering the sheer number, is probably just as much of a blessing to the judges and prosecutors as it is to her, not to mention SHIELD.

Then, the defense attorney stood, leaning against the table – an attempt to intimidate her, by making her address not only the council, but the defendants she was angering as well. 

“Miss Daisy, right, no last name?” He asked.

“Yeah, I mean, yes.” She replied. She’d like to say she was internally rolling her eyes, but she actually felt rather nervous, assuming she was correct in thinking he planned to discredit her, like the prosecution suggested would happen, since the evidence itself was too solid to attack.

“Yes, and how did you come by this information?”

“I hacked it.” Repeating the pre-trial instructions in her head – stay calm, give short answers, let the prosecutor lead you – was keeping her calm, for now.

“And how exactly, did a fifteen-year-old child manage to hack this information, much less one who has yet to finish high school, or even middle school.”

Flushing at the defamation, Daisy opened her mouth to defend herself – and her hacking skills – but was cut off by the prosecutor. 

“Objection, your honor, the court has already established Miss Daisy was both capable of obtaining the information, and the one to do so.”

However, his question wasn’t meant to be answered, only to plant a seed of doubt in the jury’s mind, as evidenced by his quick response, “Withdrawn. I have no more questions for this witness.”

*

Daisy’s breathing was rough, even if she kept it timed to Dr. Lorrel’s recommended pattern. A few weeks ago, she’d probably be having an all-out panic attack, but between practicing her new breathing trick and rubbing her hands against the textured fabric of the couch she was sitting on, she’d kept a lid on her boiling pot of anxiety.

Nevertheless, she was grateful when the others finally entered the room. Hill smiled at Daisy, “You did great, don’t worry about the defense’s question, we already knew they’d try that play, which is why we had you prove your capabilities to the judge and jury beforehand.”

Still having trouble, but feeling better with the reassurance, Daisy just nodded at Hill, offering a shaky smile in return. 

“You’ll need to speak to Mrs. Brown in a minute, the prosecutor on this case, in a minute.” Hill continued, “Do you think you can do that?”

Starting to shrug, Daisy huffed out a quiet affirmation, which only garnered her some concerned looks. She watched as May nodded at Hill and Coulson, waving her hand in a way that clearly meant something to them, and absolutely nothing at all to Daisy. 

She then walked over towards Daisy, sitting at the end of the couch, as the other two moved out of the way. Probably to deal with the innumerable reporters milling throughout the hallway. Simultaneously busting most of the Italian crime syndicate apparently made for a good story. 

“What’s wrong?”

Daisy almost jumped at the unexpected question. She thought May was going to do her typical silent reassurance thing. She bit her lip, “Hill said, a while ago, that after the trial, most of the defendants won’t bother with me. Since the damage is done and all that,” she waited for May’s acknowledging nod, and half hoped the older woman would simply understand her concerns without daisy having to eloquently express them herself. Unfortunately, it seems as though May is either genuinely lost, or being purposefully obtuse, so Daisy is forced to continue, “It’s just – people on the street, they don’t let stuff like this go. I’m a snitch now, and a dangerous one, so even if these particular bad guys don’t come after me, other ones might, in fact they probably will, and it’s just–” Daisy broke off with an aborted gasp, feeling her barely abated panic rise again. 

She knew Hill and all the others must know this, they were covert agents for God’s sake, of course they know street ethics, but Daisy was starting to get worried that they were expecting her to be able to deal with this like they would, and no matter how good of a hacker she was, she only survived the streets because she knew how to run, how to hide, not how to fight, and fights were exactly the thing she’d be facing after this was over.

“Breathe.” May commanded.

Right. Daisy started timing herself again, pushing her hand up and down the stained fabric in an attempt to ground herself, but she was dangerously close to boiling over, and screw Lorrel’s stupid kitchenware metaphors. 

“Daisy.” May stated, drawing her attention back in. “We’re going to continue protecting you after the trial.” She said, like that was a fact, and not just a false reassurance. Daisy pushed her hands harder against the leather, half rocking in attempt to keep her cool. “You don’t believe me.” May said, and if that acknowledgment wasn’t enough to draw Daisy’s eyes to May’s, her wry tone of voice would be. “I understand why you don’t, but you need to. You’ll be protected after the trial.” 

She paused then, like she was debating whether or not she should really say something, “Do you really think SHELD would let an asset like you get hurt.”

“What if I stop being an asset.”

“Then we’ll still owe you. And you still won’t get hurt.” And if Daisy didn’t know any better, she’d think May specifically chose that word on purpose. Street kids understand owing. Then again, secret agents probably do too. So, maybe it was deliberate.

Either way, it was that response that finally eased Daisy’s chest, and she nodded at May, hoping that the slight shine in her eyes wan’t too noticeable.

“Daisy.” At May’s voice, Daisy looked back up again. “Your breathing pattern, it helps?”

It took Daisy a few seconds to realize this was a question and not just a general observation, but when she did, she nodded tentatively at May.

“I think I may know something that will help more.” Daisy blinked, this was really not where she thought this was leading. “Tai Chi.” May said, like Daisy was supposed to know what that meant–

“Wait, is that your fancy ninja dancing,” Daisy asked. Then flushed when May raised an eyebrow at the expression.

“It requires regulated breathing but is more involved than just patterns.” May responded, “It could help you. Trials can be pretty high stress.”

At first all Daisy could do was blink, but just as May started to turn away, looking almost disappointed, she finally blurted out, “Really?”

At her response, May turned back, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Are you still going to teach me Mandarin too? Or do I need to pick¬–” Daisy broke off as May pursued her lips.

“Why would you need to pick?” She asked, and now that Daisy thinks about it, that does sound kind of dumb, but somehow the thought of May taking the time, time she’d cut out of either her work or her free time, but probably her free time, considering May is somehow the stickler about paperwork in this group, to do both, seems just, unbelievable.

Still she didn’t have an answer for May, so Daisy just shrugged in response, hoping she hadn’t already ruined her chance.

After simply staring at her for a few seconds, May stood, “We’ll start tomorrow before breakfast, and continue with Mandarin after lunch, like normal.” Daisy’s eyes lit up at her response, and May hid a smile. “Right now, we’re meeting Natasha and Clint for dinner, so get your bag.”

*

It had been a while since Coulson had smiled this much, for this long, but sitting here, with most of his closest friends, he felt genuinely happy.

Clint was just finishing a story about his first mission in Sokvia, the not-classified parts, since Daisy’s here, despite the fact that she could hack the details in less than a minute, which was still hilarious, considering it involved several goats and a car chase through a pumpkin field, when Daisy hopped up, announcing she was headed to the lady’s room.

They all suppressed laughs when Natasha called out to ask if she needed an escort, or if she could manage to stay out of trouble, and then outright laughed when Clint joked – “Like you’re one to talk. You almost overthrew a government during a few of your bathroom breaks.”

“And I would have succeeded, if you hadn’t interfered.”

Hill responded by vigorously shaking her head, “No, no, if this is not in your mission reports then I don’t want to know about it.”

“Who said anything about a mission,” Natasha snorted, earning her a vehement glare from Hill. 

“Speaking of things I don’t want to know about,” Hill started, turning her attention on May and Coulson, who glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes, half feeling like conspiring cadets right out of the academy again, despite Hill’s younger age. 

“You two have gotten very close to Daisy, haven’t you?” She asked, and Coulson saw May visibly clam up next to him.

Feeling rather suspicious himself, he responded cautiously, “It’s to be expected. I would be concerned for any agent who doesn’t find themselves bonding with a teenager they’ve been taking care of for weeks.”

Hill rolled her eyes. “You two know exactly what I mean. You’re getting attached.”

Coulson was about to answer, diplomatically, for all he was irritated with Hill’s devil’s advocate act – they all knew she’d already formed a soft spot for the hacker, and there was no way she didn’t know about it – when May snapped, “And if we were.”

Which, okay, he was not expecting. He quickly glanced back and forth between the two women, from May’s cold irritation to Hill’s clear bewilderment, and opened his mouth to diffuse the situation, when he was interrupted, again, this time by Natasha’s calm laugh. 

“You two really have gotten close, maybe even closer than I thought,” she laughed, “or you’d have caught on already.”

“Natasha,” Hill warned, but was already rolling her eyes, clearly knowing that whatever gig they’d been running was up now.

“Really,” Natasha continued, “It was clear they expected you to get attached the whole time,” which now that Coulson thought about it, made sense. Unfortunately, he could also see May getting rightfully angry about the idea. “She’s a clear asset, so SHIELD would be interested in her professionally. But she’s also a teenager, and, since Fury and Hill are generally not complete assholes, they’d also be interested in her well-being. And you two, are the best people to balance that. Although,” she mused, “I imagine it may have happened a bit quicker than expected.”

Coulson and May both turned to glare at Hill, who didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed at the scheme. 

Clint snorted, so they turned their apparently mediocre display of wrath on to him. “I don’t know what you guys were excepting. I called this as soon as I found out May was teaching her Chinese, and Coulson, you’re teaching her to cook.” He continued to laugh, but it was clearly out of pleasure, “You’ve all been practically living the domestic life for weeks now. Seriously, Coulson you actually leave when work’s done, instead of inventing new work to do–”

“I don’t–” He started to object.

“I mean really, the other day Daisy told me you three were having movie nights–” 

“She had a bad day–”

“You guys are so far beyond just attached it’s hilarious.” He finished, and Natasha hummed in agreement. 

Coulson huffed, unable to find any argument to the contrary, but felt a flash of concern when May rolled her eyes before standing.

“I need the bathroom. Hopefully, I’ll find Daisy in there, provided she didn’t overhear this conversation and bolt.”

“I hope,” Natasha started to respond, pulling May back to the table for a moment, “that we have not given you cause to run.”

May just snorted in response, “If I needed to run, I’d come up with a better excuse than needing the bathroom.” And Coulson was almost surprised to see that she meant it, she really was fine with their revelations. 

It wasn’t until she was out of earshot though, that Natasha hummed again, “She is healing too.” 

At this Coulson glanced towards her, “Huh?”

“She’s healing. Not long ago, she’d have run at the thought of a new attachment. Especially to someone as a young and vulnerable as Daisy.” Natasha said and Coulson realized, at the same time, that she was right. 

“Now she’s both attached and not significantly worried,” she said, and Coulson again, trusted her judgement. Natasha was one of the few people who could read May completely. “She also jokes more.” At this Coulson had to smile. Natasha profoundly examined May’s response to a complex situation for her evidence, and then, naturally, finished it with that. 

Still, he thought, Natasha was right, May had been joking more. He was almost nervous to hope though. May had been changed so profoundly by Bahrain, Coulson knew she’d never go back to being the same person she was before. But as long as she was happy, or on her way to being happy, Coulson didn’t care how she changed.

So, maybe, he dared to hope, she was starting to heal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated :-D


	8. Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback! The motivation helps a lot!

Daisy was up to something. May knew this, because for the first time in several weeks Daisy had insisted on going back to her room after breakfast and working on her school work there. So, she was definitely doing something, and May could only hope it wasn’t illegal.

Still, considering the teen’s obvious skill with a computer, May wasn’t particularly concerned with Daisy getting caught, so, she might as well just let her be. At least for a little while longer.

After the past few years of keeping Natasha out of trouble, May developed a pretty good understanding of exactly when she needed to interrupt a scheme before it turned into overthrowing the government, or obtaining health care for the SHIELD cleaning crews, because that’s the sort of thing ex-assassins apparently do in their free time. 

That or watch cartoons. 

Still, if Daisy didn’t come out within the next hour, May decides, she’ll go to check on her. They couldn’t really afford any legal action against the girl, not with her reputation holding up the ongoing trials.

*

After an hour May finally caved and went to knock on Daisy’s door. 

She didn’t respond, not even after May called out for the girl several times. At this point, she pushed open Daisy’s door – which was already open, something Daisy rarely allowed – and found the room completely devoid of any teenagers. 

Her mind immediately flipped through the past couple days; Daisy wasn’t one to outright ignore May, or anyone else for that matter, she still felt too wary about her surroundings to attempt that show of disrespect. Which meant she was either hiding, or ran, neither of which boded well for Daisy or May.

The only event she could call to mind, that may have triggered the girl to run, was the trial a few days ago. Daisy had been frightened out of her mind after her testimony, babbling about street ethics and potential vengeance, and it was only the breathing techniques and May’s subpar attempts at comforting her that calmed Daisy down.

Perhaps she still didn’t believe their promises of protection, and decided, instead, to run. The first part of that thought was sound, Daisy was almost certainly still doubtful, and until Fury and Hill gave them the go ahead to offer Daisy the choice to enter SHIELD – after she was of age – she’d continue to be. But, somehow, May doubted that she would have run, at least not before she finished her part in the trials.

Which meant she was likely hiding. May was beginning to think she should have interrupted Daisy an hour ago. 

*

Thankfully, the SHIELD apartment the three had been relocated to was relatively small, and Daisy, although good at hiding, was no match for a trained spy. 

Now, May was quietly approaching Daisy, peering over the teen’s shoulder. She hadn’t startled when May entered the room, and she also hadn’t acknowledged her, meaning Daisy was likely exceptionally deep in thought – or deep in her hack, May thought, seeing her computer screen, irritation flooding her.

She was surprised for a moment, that it was only irritation, and not the cleaner feel of anger. But, she acknowledged, she didn’t have much reason to be truly angry. Daisy had already proven herself capable of avoiding even the most well-placed pitfalls. In truth, she was as skilled at hacking, as Romanoff was at, well, most things. 

As such, it was only a mild feeling of annoyance that propelled May forward, ready to explain how Daisy was potentially endangering the cases, since she was still under oath during them, and any activities past the point of her intel info-dump aren’t privileged or protected, when she felt her stomach drop and the cold rush of fear fill her chest.

May didn’t panic, not anymore, but she was closer to it now than she had been for years, as she watched Daisy click out of several windows – information on Coulson and Hill she now recognized – and dig into her own personal file.

Now it was anger pushing her forward. She wasn’t sure who caused the feeling, not yet, but right now it was aimed directly at Daisy, who for some reason, seemed to think it was acceptable to read through her – their – personal information. Thought she was at liberty to violate their privacy. 

Fuming, May reached for the girl’s laptop and slammed it closed. Daisy swung around at the action, her eyes widening, “May?” she said, “I can–”

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?” She snapped, forcing the anger she was feeling away. She’d direct it later. Once she had something to direct it at. Jerking her charge's computer away from her, she wrapped a hand around her arm to pull her up.

“What exactly were you looking for,” she continued, feeling Daisy start to pull away, but was too angry to let her go. She had crossed a line and needed to explain herself. May was hoping she’d have a perfectly reasonable explanation, because Heaven help her if she didn’t.

May opened her mouth again, ready to repeat her demand for an explanation, to explain exactly why this was wrong, and then recruit Coulson to expand on the points, when she felt Daisy violently jerk away.

Feeling her anger surge back up, and forcibly pushing it back down, May raised her eyebrow, expecting a typical teenage rant. Or even an angry lament about not being able to trust them, straight from a rebellions hacker or scorned teen.

She didn’t expect Daisy to back up with harsh gasps until she hit the wall. May watched with growing horror, as the child slid down the wall and covered her head with both arms.

May was sure, for one awful moment, that Daisy was reacting to her file. That she’d learned what she needed to know, and was now reacting appropriately, when gasped apologies and tearful pleas reached her ears.

Daisy wasn’t reacting to her file. She was reacting to _her_.

Feeling bile in her throat May crouched down in front of her, scooting back and to the side, allowing Daisy a straight shot out of the room.

“Daisy,” she started, a false calmness in her voice even as she felt her earlier panic rise again, “I’m going to text Coulson, he’ll be home soon. But I need you to breathe, okay? I promise I’m not going to hurt you, you’re safe.” Tears stung her eyes, as she watched Daisy’s streak down her face.

“Daisy, I promise you’re safe. Breath in for four seconds, one, two, three, four.” May guided her, hoping she was still able to hear her, and not trapped somewhere else. 

She guarded Daisy as she slowly started to regain control of her breathing. The beginning of a panic attack slowed into simply gasping sobs, and then finally into quiet whimpers. 

Finally, “I’m really sorry May,” she spoke, “I wasn’t trying to, I mean, I’m really sorry, really–” 

“Stop,” May interrupted, when it became clear that Daisy wasn’t even sure why she was apologizing. Likely just trying to calm May’s ire before it rose again. “No one’s going to hurt you.” She reassured, although judging by the flush that rose on Daisy’s face she had only succeeding in embarrassing her. “I’m sorry Daisy.” At this, Daisy jerked her head up for the first time, meeting May’s eyes incredulously. “I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I had no intention of hurting you but I should have realized I was scaring you.”

Daisy blinked, “I – you were angry–” she stuttered.

“Yes, I was,” May admitted, and rushed to finish before any more fear could grow in the child’s eyes. “But that doesn’t give me rights to hurt or scare you. Do you understand?”

And May never realized how much she could hate complete strangers, people she didn’t have faces or details or even names for, until Daisy stared at her, uncomprehending for far too long.

May was tempted to call in reinforcements. Hill gave amazingly good boundary and trauma recovery speeches, when she had a mind to, when Daisy finally nodded her head. 

“That’s how it supposed to work,” she admitted, “but it doesn’t always.”

“It does here.” May responded firmly. Realizing Daisy wasn’t going to accept her apology, but, despite her mother’s voice in the back of her head, drilling her on manners, she didn’t feel the need to point it out. Chances are, Daisy hadn’t even registered the apology.

May glanced at her phone, hoping Phil had texted her back affirming his return, but found no such messages. She was about to offer Daisy some space, and likely some tea, when she spoke up.

“Am I going to be assigned to someone else now.”

May blinked. She stared at Daisy, trying to figure out where she could have drawn that conclusion. She knew she’d texted Phil, so it’s unlikely she took her phone check for a sign of impatience or a hint that she needed to leave. Unless, there’s no guarantee that Daisy was completely cognizant when May said that.

So, she showed Daisy the blank lock screen, “I was just checking if Coulson texted me back yet. I said I was asking him to come back early. It’s okay if you don’t remember.”

But she stopped when Daisy shook her head, “No, I mean, are you going to ask Hill or Fury or someone to move me to a different agent.” Daisy said, “For the protection detail, you know?” No, May does not know. “It’s just, you were like, really mad,” Daisy continued, clearly starting to feel nervous, so May decided to cut in.

“I was angry. So, we’ll discuss why. You aren’t going anywhere.” She said. At Daisy’s relived and disbelieving stare, May simply reaffirmed her statement, “You’re staying.”

May realized she knew a basis for Daisy’s fear. Moving around the system can create attachment issues even in mild cases, and if Daisy had to move around even more often, there wasn’t any telling how deep her abandonment issues went.

“We don’t need to discuss everything right now, but I do need to know why you hacked back into SHIELD.” May said, deciding to tackle the speech about privacy when she had Coulson to back her up. And mediate.

Still, she wasn’t expecting the flush that covered Daisy’s face. “It, well, I¬–” she stuttered.

May raised an eyebrow at her, but deliberately relaxed her stance, hoping she’d receive the unspoken message – you’re safe.

Thankfully, it appeared as though Daisy did understand. She took a deep breath, “When I initially hacked into SHIELD, it wasn’t to uncover corruption,” Daisy started, gazing past May, and fixating on a painting of a flowery meadow.

“I was trying to find my parents.” At this May’s eyebrow’s shot up. She didn’t know how SHIELD could possibly be involved but started to worry as she continued. “I was left at St. Agnes as a baby, and the only file I could find about my past, my parents, was redacted by SHIELD,” that couldn’t be a good sign, “so I learned to hack to go after it. The corruption part, I just stumbled across,” she looked almost ashamed.

“I didn’t think you’d gone looking for the corruption,” May said, and met Daisy’s surprised eyes, “what matters is what you did when you found it. Most people would have left it alone. Especially once they were needed in person.” 

At this Daisy flushed again, but this time with clear pleasure. Unfortunately, “I still need to know why you hacked in this time.”

Which changed her pleasure back to embarrassment. 

“I, well,” she started, “at first I was kinda checking to see if you and Coulson had a kid,” May’s breath caught at her words, “but I figured out you didn’t pretty quick. So, since Hill made a comment about you two babysitting a lot, I sorta tried to see if you guys were like SHIELD foster parents or something.” Her face was burning red at this point, but May was too shocked to notice.

Daisy wanted to know if they were her parents, wanted to know if they wanted kids.

May forced herself to clarify, “When Hill said we babysat, she meant Clint and Nat.” Daisy’s crestfallen look jolted her back to awareness, “But, like I said, you’ll be under SHIELD’s protection.” 

Those words brought a flicker of hope back into Daisy’s eyes, and, as appreciative as she was of that, she couldn’t reaffirm it any more, not until more pieces were finalized.

Wait, “Daisy. You know Coulson and I aren’t married?” May asked, feeling ridiculous.

Daisy started, “Well, yeah, marriage records are really easy to find. Why would you think that I thought you two were – Wait. Are you like a nobody should have kids until married person?”

She bounced back quick. May was thankful, even with the slight hesitance in Daisy’s teasing. She wasn’t sure how she’d deal, if Daisy retreated back into fear around her.

“No, I’m not. You just implied you thought we were.”

“Together.” She replied.

“What?”

At this point Daisy looked positively incredulous. “You guys are together right? Like romantically.”

“No, we are not.” May responded, starting to wonder how’d she gotten into this conversation. Feeling exceptionally awkward discussing her romantic life with a fifteen-year-old. “It’s complicated.”

That earned her a snort, but Daisy bit her lip and just murmured an mmhmm in response. May was grateful, she’d reached her quota of awkwardness for the day.

“And Daisy.” May waited until the teen looked back at her. “You need to stay away from your file,” she could see a flicker of outrage in Daisy and continued before it grew. “Coulson and I, we’ll look into it, but we need to be careful.” 

Thankfully, her words seemed to have delayed Daisy’s protests. “Having a file about this at all is suspicious. Having a redacted one means it’s likely dangerous. I’m not sure how,” she continued, seeing Daisy’s confusion, “but those facts still remain.”

“We’ll look into it,” she repeated, “but we need to be careful, which means you need to leave it alone for a while.” She’d explain why they should wait a few years, until she’s at least eighteen, later. Daisy doesn’t know just how dangerous things could get but May does. She’d delay this until Daisy could start to understand.

“Okay?” May asked.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated!!


	9. Talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I haven't been feeling well. (This is also less edited than usual, so of you see some mistakes, let me know.)
> 
> Thank you all for the feedback! It makes me very happy.
> 
>  
> 
> **In depth trigger warnings in the end notes.**

May was looking forward to these trials ending.

They’d reached the crux of the process, and Daisy had testified in most of the trials she needed too. The evidence was damning enough that most of the trials were considered safe bets by the agency and the prosecutors.

The individuals who SHIELD isn’t planning to prosecute have been processed and dealt with internally. She also isn’t entirely sure Daisy’s aware of this, but they’d all apparently decided to keep her in the dark, and May wasn’t going to break out of the fold. Unless she needed to.

Either way, the end of these trials was in sight. They’d finally reached some sort of a consensus in their post-trial plans.

And most helpfully, Coulson had successfully explained to Daisy the implied danger behind a redacted file and solidified her consent in waiting until she was of age to look into it.

Daisy had been almost suspiciously happy about the conversation for a few days, until May started to suspect that she’d actually decided to go behind their backs and hack into their servers again.

Of course, she’d need to be on site to do so. Since the particular file she needed to hack was on their internally maintained server, impenetrable to those without a hardwire connection, and likely the only reason she hadn’t already found the unredacted file.

Thankfully, she wasn’t actually plotting for their next visit to SHIELD. Heartbreakingly, she’d been so deliriously happy because their plans implied she would still be seeing May and Coulon in three years (or as Daisy put it, after _three whole years_ ).

Unfortunately, in order to explain why Coulson needed to discuss this with Daisy, meant she also had to explain the events leading to Daisy’s confession.

An explanation that was interspersed with an uncomfortable amount of reassurances and sympathy. Finally, May had to agree to talk to Daisy, again, just to get Coulson to shut up.

Which led her here, knocking on Daisy’s bedroom door, and trying to channel her mother. Which she’d never confess too, but honestly, where exactly is the line between treating a teen like the child they were and also like the adult they will be.

This would be much easier if she’d known Daisy for more than a few months. Possibly.

Finally, Daisy opened the door, “yeah?”

She didn’t look nervous. Which, great, off to a good start.

“I’d like to speak with you.” May stated, clenching her jaw when a flash of tension crossed the girl’s face. So much for a good start, “You aren’t in any trouble.” She reassured, “I just need to explain something.”

At this the tension morphed into something much closer to concern, and if it was anyone but Daisy, May would be irritated by the change. Right now, she’s just thankful.

“Umm, okay, come in, I guess?” Daisy moved to the side, letting May into the sparsely, but happily, decorated room. 

May centered herself as she sat on Daisy’s bed, thankful she long since mastered the art of controlling her heart rate and breathing.

“A few days ago, I reacted poorly to your attempt to hack back into SHIELD,” May started but was unsurprised when Daisy interrupted her.  
“Wait, if this is another respect people’s privacy talk, I promise you and Coulson made the concept very clear the first time,” Daisy begged, flopping out against the headboard of her bed, no longer appearing the slightest bit concerned.

“No, Daisy, it’s not about that,” May responded, not able to help smiling Daisy’s dramatics. As she was about to restart, Daisy interrupted again.

“Well, you already apologized for the whole panic attack thing,” Daisy said, apparently decided to channel on of Hill’s healthy behavior lectures, “which was also, like, super unintentional, so I think we’ve covered all the bases.”

May rolled her eyes but could see Daisy was uncomfortable with the idea of discussing her panic attack. “That’s also not what this is about,” May continued, and as Daisy opened back up her mouth, she pushed forward, “why don’t you let me explain?”

Now looking suitably chastised, Daisy simply nodded.

“I reacted so … strongly because of your proximity to my personnel file,” May said, watching as Daisy’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “There was a mission report attached. A sealed one, that no one has accessed, that few people, besides you, would be able to access. It contains details to a mission I would be … uncomfortable, with people knowing.”

May was surprised as Daisy nodded solemnly, much more serious than she’d ever seen her, “That was why I reacted so strongly, not because of your actions, which, while unacceptable,” May reminded her, comforted by the fearlessly exaggerated way Daisy rolled her eyes, “didn’t warrant my level of vehemence.”

Daisy just nodded, leaning forward, “I know, I know,” she said grinning impishly, “and nothing ever justifies provoking a panic attack or otherwise inducing a trauma-based reaction from someone,” she parroted, “when in a trusted environment you need to indicate when you feel yourself deteriorating. Try holding up your hand in a stop signal, yadah yadah.” Daisy continued to grin, but there was a new softness to her voice, “You and Coulson have literally repeated this twelve times. I figured I should stop before we get to unlucky thirteen.”

“Daisy,” May responded, falsely firm, “we’ve only had that discussion twice.”

“Twice, twelve time, what’s the real difference,” she sassed.

Suddenly, she leaned forward slightly then, biting her lip, seemingly gathering courage, and glancing past May, “Did something happen to you there?” She asked, her voice soft.

May clenched her hands into fists, before slowly releasing them. She wasn’t sure why Daisy was asking. The girl didn’t tend to pry, at least not in person. For whatever reason however, perhaps she was trying to find a commonality between them, she asked, and May decided she might as well answer.

“No,” or theoretically answer apparently, her voice choked enough that even Daisy noticed, despite having no real training. “I did something.” She continued, watching Daisy’s eyebrows shoot up on her forehead, “Something that showed me what type of person I am.” Realization started to dawn on the teen’s face, and that shouldn’t have scared May as much as it did. “So, I left the field. To make sure I couldn’t do anything like it again.”

And that’s it, she’d maxed out on emotions for the day, moves to stand up, and reassure Daisy one last time, before retreating into some of her more advanced Tai Chi routines. When a hand shot out to grab her wrist.

Daisy was biting her lip and tugged slightly on May until she sat back down again. May braced herself, ready to listen to empty reassurances about being a good person and such. Most of her friends tried the similar speeches, when she first came back from Bahrain, when she was much less put together, and far more likely to fly off the handle at them.

They were all trying their best however. All her friends had seen and done horrible things in the field, and they all thought they could help her the same way people helped them. By reframing her as the good guy, reassuring her of her humanity, repeating the same things people told them.

They didn’t understand that she couldn’t – can’t – believe them. Not when they don’t know, don’t really know, what happened. And since she’s too scared to tell them, anyone of them, fearing they’ll realize her actions truly went too far, too close to the ends justify the means mentality that’s supposed to separate them from the bad guys, she’s stuck unable to accept their reassurance and unable to talk about why.

She’d listen to Daisy however, she knew the teen would only have the best intentions. Perhaps she’d even try to explain why such comforts don’t always work, especially not for SHIELD agents.

Of course, Daisy refuses to follow any social customs, so May really shouldn’t have been surprised at her next words.

“I don’t know what you did, but I don’t think a bad person would feel bad about it,” she started, and at rushed to continue at May’s shock, “no, really, I don’t think they would. That’s, that’s what a friend of mine said, and it sort of stuck with me.”

At this May simply raised an eyebrow in confusion, hoping Daisy would understand the unspoken question. The girl bit her lip in response, looking down, before taking a deep breath. “I used to think I was a really bad person. Still do sometimes.” Which, really wasn’t what May was expecting.

“You already know I dropped out a couple years ago, and started living on the streets,” Daisy started, and waited for May’s nod to continue. “Well, the reason I left. It was because of a home.” May figured. “It wasn’t the worst home we could be in. The foster parents never hit us, and no one tried to you know, touch us.” She swallowed, and May clenched her hands, she’d already guessed Daisy faced abuse, even that type, but to see the almost distraught look on her face, at the mere mention of such violence sparked a rage in May she rarely felt so vividly.

“But this home, it was still bad. The mom, she used to say these things that were just meant to hurt us. She’d spend time getting to know us and then hit us where it hurt. Like, another girl there, Clairissa, she was only ten but she had a lot of body issues, so the mom would make all these comments about her needing to lose weight or change her face so she’d look better.”

“She even, she made her stand in front of a mirror with only her underwear on, and she pointed out all of Clairissa’s body’s flaws. Dumb stuff a ten-year-old shouldn’t worry about, like fat on her stomach and a couple scars from falling off her bike” Daisy rolled her eyes here, “Not that it was any better for a thirteen-year-old, but still, Clairissa hadn’t even hit puberty yet.”

May was seething, but carefully kept a check on her temper, not wanting Daisy to feel she needed to stop talking, or fear the anger was directed at her.

“So, it still wouldn’t have been that bad. Just another bad home to get out of, but there was this kid. Ray. He was actually older than me – fifteen. But this was his only his second home, and he’d lost his whole family in a car wreck a few months ago, and I’d been in so many homes, I sorta felt responsible for him I guess.”

“I tried to protect him, and Clairissa and Michael too, but this woman, she’d pretend to be so nice, and take you out for ice cream and get you to talk about what you were worried about or scared of, just so she could use it against you later. And I knew not to give her too much info, you know, but Ray didn’t, he was so grateful to have an adult to talk to again, and, he told her how he thought the car wreck was his fault.”

“After that, it was just downhill. She started using that in arguments against him, pretending to comfort him, and then turn around and tell him everything she said was lies, and he was really right to think it was his fault.”

“I tried to protect him,” Daisy voice was starting to sound choked, and her cheeks were wet with tears, but she soldiered on, “tried to convince him it really wasn’t his fault, but he was too scared to listen to me, and I wasn’t able to keep him away from her.”

At this Daisy covered her mouth with her hand, silently shaking for a few moments before May slowly slided closer. She was ready to tell Daisy to stop, to just breath, but was worried Daisy would think May didn’t want to listen, not that she didn’t want Daisy upset. 

She knew if she broke Daisy’s trust here, she may not try to reach out again.

“He committed suicide.”

Her hand stilled on Daisy’s shoulder. She’d been rubbing her back, trying to comfort Daisy as much as she could. At Daisy’s hiccupped breaths, May forced herself to continue the ministrations. Forced herself to push down her useless anger and focus on the distraught teen in front of her.

“I wasn’t able to protect him, or myself, or Clairissa and Michael, but especially him. After that, I told the police everything, made sure Clairissa and Michael were going to better home, and that the foster mom wasn’t going to get any more kids, and then I ran.”

“It took me almost two years, actually, only a few months before I decided to help SHIELD and met you guys, to realize that I wasn’t a monster for not being able to protect him. And, it wasn’t even some great epiphany or anything. It was just my friend, he calls himself Micro. He said that a bad person, they wouldn’t feel bad if this happened. That a monster wouldn’t care who got hurt, or if they hurt someone.”

“And, that’s what I mean,” she said looking up at May now, her eyes still filled with tears, “when I said I don’t think you’re a bad person. Whatever you did, you wouldn’t feel bad if you were a monster. Maybe what you did was bad, or maybe not, I dunno, but you’re not.”

She sounded so painfully sure, but May wasn’t able to think of that. Not right now. Although, she figures she shouldn’t be surprised Daisy finally opened up, not for her own comfort, but for May’s.

Right now, she gently reached up to wipe the tears off Daisy’s cheeks, thankfully when the girl didn’t flinch away. 

“You did protect Clairissa and Michael.” She said, and Daisy blinked in confusion, but seemed to realize May couldn’t talk about her mission, or what Daisy was trying to convey. She’d think about it later. Maybe even talk about it, with Coulson, later. Or at least think about it.

Right now, she needed to get this point across. “You protected them by talking to the police, making sure they were in safe homes. You did everything you could at the time. You helped them.”

She pulled Daisy into a hug now, ignoring the girls’ huff of surprise and muttered, “I’ll cry more often if it gets me hugs.” And spoke, “I’m sorry you couldn’t do more for Ray, even if that never should have been your responsibility.” She tightened her hold on Daisy, she’d try to explain why that was true later, when Daisy was more likely to really listen, “I think I may know something else that could help you.”

The girl drew away to look at May, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I could start teaching you to fight. It can give you a sense of control, ability to protect people. It’s also just a useful skill to have.”

Daisy’s looked almost comically shocked for moment, before smiling and nodding, “Mandarin, Tai Chi, and fighting lessons. Maybe you should just enroll me in SHIELD.”

May rolled her eyes, but smiled internally, Daisy had no idea. She was just glad Daisy hadn’t immediately decided she’d have to choose which new skill to learn.

“Would you teach me to shoot too?”

Well, alright. That’s new. May raised her eyebrow at Daisy.

“It is a useful skill after all,” Daisy sassed, but continued more solemnly, “I’ve wanted to learn for a while, but never had the opportunity.”

May pursed her lips, to hide a smile.

“Hill can teach you how to shoot.”

“Not a fan of guns?”

“I use a gun when I need one. What’s more important, is that I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t let her teach you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: This chapter contains some in depth (but not explicit) discussion of emotional and psychological abuse, as well as a discussion of low self-esteem, self-hatred, and suicide. Please proceed with caution.
> 
> I was going to include a scene where Hill started teaching Daisy how to use a gun, but it didn't end up fitting, so it's now happening off screen! 
> 
> All feedback is welcome and greatly appreciated!!


	10. Recruitment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback! It makes me exceptionally happy and motivated!

Coulson was relieved. After far too many weeks, some low-key _assistance_ from SHIELD, and the testimony of who is now one of the highest-in-demand hackers in the country, dozens of corrupt politicians and government agents were now being sentenced.

Now, they just had to convince their government shy hacker to throw in with the most covert government agency in America. And maybe the world. (Excluding the KGB Red Room subsidiaries of course, but Coulson still refuses to think of them as anything more than rouge child torturers. Which, May insists is a bad plan – underestimating neo-Hydra sects and all, but still. Children.)

And judging by Daisy’s face, this part of their oh-so-carefully-laid plans is not going well. 

“So, I know you don’t have the best experience with government or law enforcement,” Hill continued, ignoring the almost comically incredulous expression of Daisy’s face – oh, no I’ve had the best experience with a corrupt and violent system that contributed to my abuse and abandonment, why do you ask – in favor of attempting to get through the rest of her speech.   
“But, while our methods can occasionally rise questions, our goals remain the same, to protect those that need it.” 

Hill sent Daisy a significant look, and, okay, that was a pretty good conclusion. Daisy’s seen just enough of them to believe Hill, and even she can’t really argue for a completely anarchy-based system. Which Coulson knows, specifically, because she has argued for what he calls a partially anarchy-based system. She calls it freedom of information. He calls it mass panic.  
The real question, is if Daisy has seen enough of them, of SHIELD, to look past their methods and work with them long-term.

“I don’t know,” Daisy finally said, glancing quickly at May and him.

“What don’t you know.” Fury replied, thankfully managing to keep sarcasm out of his reply. Mostly.

Daisy rolled her eyes in response, before apparently deciding to humor them. “If I want to work with you guys. Or work with you guys in future, whatever you were clearly planning.”

May’s head tilted at that. Pursuing her lips at Daisy in silent communication.

“So, look,” she continued, “I get that you’re all for fighting the bad guys and saving the world, but some of the things you guys do, are just, a little too shifty.” She bit her lip, and for a moment, Coulson was worried she’d bring up her redacted file. It’s not that he didn’t trust Hill and Fury, but he’d prefer that stay as quiet as humanly possible while they make sure it wouldn’t put Daisy in any more danger.

Compartmentalization and all that.

“Like, all your levels and stuff,” Daisy continued.

Well, alright then.

“Or the illegal detainment,” Hill’s eyebrows shot up at Daisy’s words, only to be met with an eye roll, “yeah I know about that. There were only trials for about half the people I exposed. And I’m not dumb, it’s pretty obvious what you guys decided to do.”

At this Fury leaned forward, “Do you know what would happen if we publicized these particular people’s crimes,” he questioned, “mass panic.” Hey that’s his line. “Your information gave us the go ahead, and the proof we needed, but they had crimes beyond laundering, bribery, and corruption.” Fury saw the confusion flash across Daisy’s face, so he concluded, almost harshly. “Human experimentation, child exploitation, massive schemes to promote anarchy, and not your ‘people and ideas should be free anarchy’, but massive ‘complete lack of infrastructure, a return to the dark ages’ type of anarchy.”

He leaned back at the end, pleased, continuing to stare at her to punctuate his point, but Daisy just pursed her lips. “I said I got it didn’t I? Sometimes you have to cross lines to protect people. But what happens if the next director or mission head guy or whatever decides to take it even further.” Coulson had to admit, she made a good point, “People or organizations with power like this, it doesn’t end well. Even when you have the best intentions. Didn’t I help you guys arrest like half-a-dozen SHIELD agents? You didn’t even know they were dirty.” She accused.

Despite believing every word she just said, Daisy still seemed surprised when Fury nodded his head. “You’re right. We are vulnerable.” He responded, and Daisy blinked slowly in amazement, “But we still have a duty to protect those who need it. Against threats no one else can deal with. You understand that. It’s why you came to me, instead of releasing the information right away.” She slowly nodded her head in agreement. 

At this Hill chimed in, Coulson was beginning to think they’d choregraphed it, “That’s where you come in.” She said. “You can’t actually become an agent until you’re eighteen, until then we want you to act as a consultant, help root out any more internal threats, while training to help us protect against external threats.”

Amazingly enough, Coulson saw Daisy consider it. Watched her eyes flick to him and May. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she straightened up in her seat.

She looked back at Hill. “What if I say no?” She asked.

“Then you’ll probably be receiving recruitment offers from every other agency in the world. And there will be even more secrets of ours we won’t be able to tell you about,” Hill responded firmly, but they clearly passed the test. 

Whether she was trying to see if they planned to ‘disappear her’, as she calls it, or just to confirm they weren’t abandoning her after choosing, he wasn’t sure. He hoped it was the latter. Or at least mostly the latter. Even though her insecurity made him sad; he’s not a fan of regularly ‘disappearing’ people.

Coulson was impressed, he wasn’t sure they’d be able to convince Daisy, but as she bit her lip again, before turning to May, he expected they were only an argument or so away from filing her recruitment papers.

“Just, one other thing,” Daisy said, her eyes flicking to the other three in the room before settling nervously on May, “is…was this the only reason you decided to teach me Chinese, and Tai Chi and everything.” She continued staring at May, her voice unsure but seemingly ready to hear May confirm this suspicion.

He expected the flash of surprise across May’s face when Daisy started but was shocked to see the slightest hint of amusement in her expression. “You know the answer to that, Daisy.” She responded, and the teen’s face fell for a split second, before she narrowed her eyes, seemingly realizing that May’s tone didn’t match the affirmation. “No.” She repeated.

Daisy’s eyes widened slightly, her lips twitching up in smile. A second later she rolled her eyes, “Dramatic much?” she muttered, before turning back towards Hill and Fury both of whom were decidedly amused and surprised.

“Well, I guess I’ll give it a try,” she responded.

Hill and Fury both nodded, looking pleased–

“Wait,” she suddenly said, and all four adults raised their eyebrows expectantly, “does this mean I’ll have to go to some SHIELD boarding school or something?”

Happily, Coulson piped up, “Boarding school, no. Regular school with SHIELD protection, yes.” She raised her eyebrow slightly, “There are, and have been, plenty pf other kids and teens that needed more protection than a normal school could offer, you’ll be attending with them.”

Hill smiled across the table. “You might even make a friend. I think Antoine Triplett is returning this year as a student teacher. I think you two will get along.” Coulson forced a straight face as he heard her mutter, “Even if he’s still a pain in my ass.”

Clearly pleased Daisy smiled, “Cool, cool, so does that mean?” She started. Or apparently finished, Coulson guessed, when she didn’t continue past looking anxiously at him and May.

“You’ll be staying with us.” May said. And, okay, he thought that was obvious, but apparently not. That’s okay though. They’ll make it obvious eventually.

Daisy’s face lit up at the news, and Hill and Fury quietly snorted. 

He’s just glad May and him already talked about this. He remembered the crushing realization that Daisy still expected to be sent away at the end of the trial, or just when something inconvenient happened, but seeing her elation now, almost made up for the second-hand pain.

Unfortunately, he thinks him and May might need to have another talk soon. For Daisy’s sake. The two of them may have been comfortable, or in Coulson’s case supremely uncomfortable, with dancing around their over-a-decade of romantic tension and lack of communication. But Daisy didn’t need that.

They needed to address it, and soon. Which, will definitely be fine. Not like there’s a decade of no communication and not-so-subtle-hints to work through. Not a problem at all.

On the other hand, maybe it won’t be as difficult as he’s expecting. When May decides to communicate she’s generally very good at it. Much better than him, for all he has more practice. 

And, thankfully, he has a sneaking suspicion Daisy made it onto May’s valid-reasons-to-talk-about-her-feelings list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated! :-D


	11. Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the feedback!
> 
> This chapter (and probably the last few) are going to be a bit shorter than normal! We're wrapping it up!  
> I hope the Philinda lives up to expectations!

“So, how are you feeling about the new plans?” Dr. Lorrel asked.

“Hitting all the Shrink clichés today, are we?” Daisy snarked back with a smile. “Yeah, I think I am.”

In all honesty, Daisy was surprised about much she’d come to like SHIELD. And while her respect and burgeoning trust for the agents is likely due to May and Coulson, and Hill to an extent, she imagines she’ll come to like other agents as well.

Especially if they let her work how she wants, which, considering all the trouble they’re going through to recruit her, is probably at least partially going to happen.

Either way, she’s wanted to help people ever since she started being angry about no one helping her. Now, she’s been given the chance to do so, and to make something of herself at the same time – something good.

Besides, the best way to change the system is to work it, right?

“Yeah,” she repeats, “I think I am.”

*

“We need to talk,” Coulson said, attempting to project some sort of decisiveness into his statement, while completely aware that if May did not want to talk they would not be talking.

Thankfully, May simply nodded in response, moving her paperwork to the side.

“Daisy’s with Dr. Lorrel, I wanted to bring this up with you first,” he continued, worried he’d misread the situation and was about to put his foot in his mouth. Potentially twice.

Start with the easy one then.

“So, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty set on keeping Daisy,” he started, and, at May’s amusedly raised eyebrow, realized that sounded a bit creepy, and promptly backtracked, “I mean – I mean adopting, or long-term fostering…you know what I mean.”

May was clearly holding back a laugh, and was also clearly making it obvious she was holding back a laugh, because this is May and of course she is –

“Me too,” she said, and it took Coulson a confused second to rewind the conversation and realize she was not in fact reading his mind. “But we should use SHIELD’s system. We won’t be able to adopt together normally and it would be safer in the long run for Daisy. Let her create a new identity, she’s good at it.”

“How do you know-” Coulson started, “actually, never mind, great, awesome plan. We should ask Fury.”

“No.” She responded, and now he was confused.

“What?” 

“We should _tell_ Fury, and Hill, they knew what they were doing – placing her with us. We’ll tell them.”

That’ll go over well.

“Great!” Not like they’re our bosses, “Awesome plan!”

She just rolled her eyes at him. Probably because she doesn’t need to read minds to know what he was thinking. Most of the time at least.

“I was already planning to keep Tai Chi,” she said, “and tutor in Chinese, I think she’s going to pick that as an elective.”

“Right, SHIELD high school, Tai Chi with you, and weapons with Hill, because she’s our boss and said she was teaching Daisy weapons,” Coulson finished. “And we should ask Daisy.”

May simply cocked her head at him, waiting for elaboration.

“About adoption,” he said, “or SHIELD adoption. We should ask, just in case she was hoping for more of a fun-aunt-and-uncle-who-teach-her-stuff-while-at-fancy-spy-school sort of deal,” which earned him a progressively raised eyebrow. 

“I think that’s Hill.”

“I meant us, too”

“Fine. We can ask.” She replied, rolling her eyes in frustration.

He wasn’t entirely sure why she didn’t seem to like the idea, but imagined she was either worried Daisy would choose not to stay or that Daisy would think they were only asking out of obligation. He might have been inclined to agree, knowing the girl’s history, but he was pretty sure the teen would appreciate it. It couldn’t have been easy moving in and out of homes on a whim. Here, she’d have choice.

And hopefully stability. No, definitely stability, how they made that stability, is about to be determined.

“One other thing,” he started, “we need to talk about us, for her sake.”

He could see her shutting down, as well as the irritation at him using Daisy to force this talk He was right, of course, she’d decide to communicate, for Daisy if not for him or herself, but she wasn’t going to be happy about it.

“Phil,” she started, and that’s either a fantastic start, or a sign that he should be running away, “we don’t need to.”

Okay, bad sign.

“Look, I know we’ve been fine with the whole pretending we never planned on dating and definitely never did anything friends wouldn’t do, but that’s not going to work if we’re both raising Daisy. She needs one home, not to bounce between two, so it’s only logical that we all live together. Which means the pretending thing is not gonna work anymore,” he paused there, hoping May would understand we wasn’t trying to break the comfortable truce they’d been living in, not without a very good reason.

“Exactly.” 

Wait, what?

“What?”

“We’re going to be raising a child together, Phil. We can’t let anything, not even our…history affect that. So, we’ll just see where it goes.”

“Right, go with the flow,” he responded incredulously, “are you serious?”

“Do you have a better idea? We can’t follow the normal stages Phil. By the end of the week, we’ll be moving in together, for at least the next few years. And by the end of tomorrow we’ll officially have a child together. So, yeah, go with the flow.”

He had to admit, she was right. And, this solved exactly what he’d been worried about – keeping any relationship changes from affecting Daisy.

“So, just so I’m clear, we are pursuing this?” That earned him an eye roll, but it was an affectionate eye roll, so, yes, they were pursuing this. “But, no matter where we end up, we continue working with each other and raising Daisy – together.”

May smiled at him now and nodded. 

Right, he knew talking to her would work perfectly. He hadn’t been worried at all. 

“Oh, for the record though, I’m still gonna take you on a date,” he said, smiling brightly at May, “how about Friday, after we move in together.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes again. Affectionately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is appreciated!
> 
> Also, you may have noticed I have added this work to a series now! I have no idea when I'll be adding new works, but I do have several ideas for outtakes/mini-sequels! So, keep an eye out!


	12. Family Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments and kudos!! I'm sorry I missed an update, I got a bit busier than usual.
> 
> Also, we'll be seeing a special guest next chapter! So, I hope you enjoy it!

“Daisy, we’d like to talk to you,” Coulson called, entering the room, and, yeah, if this were three months ago Daisy would be up and out the door – or at least at the door – before they’d realize she’d moved.

Or, until normal people realized she’d moved. She supposed she should be surprised that the first people she’d finally felt safe with in years are also international spies who could completely destroy her if they decided to, but really when has she ever done anything the easy way.

(She is, however, pointedly ignoring the realization that she is not in fact scared of either of them, and isn’t worried about being sent off at the first sign of displeasure, because she really can’t deal with that right now.)

“Sure, AC, what’s up.”

“May and I – wait, AC?” He responded, sounding incredibly confused as May smothered a smile behind him.

“Yeah, Agent Coulson, AC, you know, nicknames.” Daisy replied, grinning at the flickering disbelief on his expression, “You guys do have nicknames don’t you.”

Coulson opened his mouth, looking ready to argue that no, we most certainly do not have nicknames in SHIELD, but May interrupted, “We wanted to ask you something, Daisy.”

“Right,” Coulson jumped in, “we wanted to ask you…a question,” and they both sounded nervous, so now Daisy was a bit nervous, but also amused, and she’s so not dealing with that right now either. “But we want you to know, that no matter what you answer, it won’t have to change anything between us.” He continued, but Daisy could judge by May’s raised eyebrow that that wasn’t strictly speaking, accurate. 

Still, she seemed amused. So, it’s probably nothing bad.

Despite this, Daisy would really prefer if they’d just ask, and not drag this out until she starts to freak out, “Alright, could you just ask please?”

And, thankfully, May seems to understand her growing desperation, and cuts in. 

“We want to adopt you.”

Okay, that was not on her list of possible conversations, and seriously, _what_?

“What?”

“We want to adopt you,” Coulson reaffirmed, “not through the normal system, because that would probably take a couple years. Through SHIELD.”  
They both started at Daisy, almost anxiously, awaiting her answer, but Daisy’s still stuck about ten steps back in this conversation.

“ _What_?”

And, since Coulson is Coulson, he seems to take that as confusion about how the mechanics of this work, and not blinding confusion because seriously, _what the Hell_.

“It’s a pretty simple process, SHIELD would use a procedure similar to creating a new identity – you can pick your last name – and you’d be legally, our child. Everything else we’ve been planning would remain the same, it will just be…officially permanent.” He rambled, but thankfully, seemed to realize that she was not in fact asking for a lesson in SHELD protocol, and trailed off.

“Daisy,” he said, softly, “we both feel like you’re already a part of our family. Our, complicated and previously unspoken family, but family nonetheless. You can think of this as just, speaking it…officially.” He was comforting her, and amazingly, it was working. But still.

“Are you serious,” she snapped, “because if this is a joke it’s not funny.” 

Sadness flashed across both their faces, but it was May who spoke up.

“Yes, we’re serious Daisy. We’ve both been thinking about this for a while. If you decide you don’t want this, we’ll just continue like we have been. And if you do, we’ll fill out the paperwork, and then continue like we have been.”

“Right, and a year from now, or five years from now, how about them?”

“We’ll still continue like we have been,” May stated firmly, “you won’t be getting rid of us that easily.”

And yeah, maybe May knew that would work – switching it around like Daisy had all the power to stay or abandon them – or maybe she didn’t, but it did work, and Daisy released a shaky breath, not realizing she’d been holding it until now.

And for a moment, Daisy let herself believe that she really did have all the power. That May and Coulson would always be here.

The next moment, she decided she’d consider that when she hasn’t been half hyperventilating for the past twenty minutes. 

“Yeah,” she choked out. “Yes.” Thankful she’d actually managed to respond before she could talk herself out of it, or convince herself the didn’t mean it, or anything else. 

At her response, Coulson’s face lit up, and May smiled wider than Daisy had seen yet. 

Immediately, Coulson piped up, “Awesome, yes, we’ll talk to Hill tomorrow, or Fury, get all the paperwork done.”

Daisy smiled back weakly. Even so, Coulson’s unflinching enthusiasm and May’s steadfast happiness comforted Daisy.

Smiling at the thought, and realizing they’d done this despite knowing she might refuse, might reject them – for what she didn’t know, but they seemed to think she might actually not jump for this the second she thought it was real – Daisy piped up.

“Not that’d I’d thought about this, or anything, but, uhh, since hyphenating your names would be a disaster, maybe we could go with Mayson,” she said, flushing, “as a last name, I mean.” In retrospect, there may have been a better way to show her enthusiasm, but also, she’s so not hyphenating their names. 

“Mason?” May responded, sounding amused, but in a fond way, and three months ago, Daisy might have thought that was irritation. They’ve come a long way. She has.

“Yeah, with a Y, you know, like smashing your names together,” she replied, trying for a shaky smile.

Coulson jumped up, “I love it!” And his enthusiasm made both May and Daisy grin, “Tomorrow, you will be Daisy Mayson.”

And yeah, that did sound nice. “Tomorrow,” she repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know combining their names is a bit cheesy, but seriously Daisy is a dork and I 100% believe she'd do this.
> 
> All feedback is appreciated!!


	13. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I missed another update! But thank you all for the feedback! It really kept me motivated to the get this chapter up (eventually).
> 
> Only one chapter left to go! I hope you all keep enjoying this story. :-D

In all honesty, Hill wasn’t really surprised. She should have been, of course. It’s not every day that two of SHEILD’s best agents walk into her meting and demand SHIELD’s adoption protocol.

But no. She’s not surprised. And neither is Fury, for all he’s playing bad cop.

“This goes against every protocol we have designed,” he continued, pretending like they hadn’t seen this coming from a mile away. “What makes you think I’d violate all of that, just to satisfy you two?”

Right, it’s not like this was one of the top three outcomes they predicted for this particular situation. 

(And Hill’s favorite, considering the other two ended with Daisy dead or Daisy disappearing into the night like a skittish cat.)

And it’s also not like they were in a very important meeting involving nuclear codes that already ran into the standard lunch time. And dammit Hill is a professional, but she is also _hungry_.

So, seriously, she was few seconds away from just destroying Fury’s devil-may-care attitude and grabbing the pre-prepped adoption protocol paperwork from her desk. 

Which would earn her at least one disappointed glare, if not one disappointed speech. So, thankfully, Coulson finally cut into Fury’s entirely fake tirade over protocol.

(When has he ever actually cared about protocol. It’s not like he follows the agency’s mandatory lunch break protocol, does he?)

“Look. We know you two planned this.” He stated, and Hill’s maybe a little surprised at that. Not that they figured it out, but that they actually called them out on it. “You wanted all of us to get attached, and, well, congratulations, it worked. Maybe it worked a little too well. In that case, jokes on you. But come on, why don’t we just cut to the chase so we can all go get lunch.”

Yes! Great idea!

“What makes you think that,” Fury responded, and come on, really?

At this point May leaned forward with an exasperated sigh, glaring at Fury. And it was a testament to the years they’ve spent working together that they could easily read her ‘You can’t be serious’ and her ‘You already know the answer to that, let’s speed this along, please’ in that single look.

Thankfully, at this, Fury decided to drop the act, leaning back with a heavy sigh.

Which Maria took as a cue to grab the adoption protocol paperwork from her desk, turning back to her friends with a smile. “Finally! Let’s fill the rest of these out. You all can come back to sign and legalize them tomorrow.”

* 

Daisy was trying very hard not to worry about May and Coulson’s meeting.

She was, after all, pretty sure Hill liked her. And they were supposedly all friends, so….it was going to be fine. Absolutely fine.

In the meantime, Daisy had been wandering around the facility, being perfectly well-behaved.

(Which was unfortunately true. She’d test SHIELD a bit more _after_ she was officially adopted.)

She was just turning around to walk back down the thousandth super boring hallway when she heard a young woman’s voice raise in one of the rooms.

“No Fitz! You have to finish the central wiring _before_ I insert the biological matrix otherwise it’ll all collapse.”

“Well, I can’t well bloody finish the wiring before I know how you want it connected to the mainframe now can I?”

“I gave you the blueprints, just follow those!”

“I can’t read your blueprints! You only followed half the mechanical conventions!”

“That’s because I’m working with a biological material¬– Oh, hello?”

Daisy hadn’t realized she’d been approaching the pair until the British woman cut herself off to address her.

“Oi!” The Scottish man shouted – the woman called him Fitz – “You can’t be in here! You need to have finished advanced bio-interfacing and I haven’t seen you in any of the classes.”

Daisy blinked, and was about to leave when the woman piped back up, “Oh, leave her Fitz, the professors said that rule only applies when we’re experimenting.”

“And what do you call this?” He retorted.

“Inventing of course!” She snapped, “We clearly aren’t experimenting, we don’t have even a semblance of a control must less a–”

“Right,” Daisy cut in, “well, I was just wandering around, so…” She waved slightly, moving to leave the two to their…interesting…argument.

“Oh,” the you woman turned back around to face Daisy, forcing her to pause, “I’m sorry, I’m Jemma Simmons, and this is Leo Fitz. We’re here with the Academy of Science and Technology, we had some free time and wanted to work on finishing our semester project. Who are you here with?”

“Oh,” Daisy stuttered, still trying to process the woman’s – Jemma’s – monologue, “cool, I’m, uhh, I’m here with…well, it’s a little complicated.” Even the young man – Fitz, his name was Fitz – was staring at her now, seemingly curious about the random girl walking around unsupervised through a top-secret SHIELD facility.

Well, when she put it like that, she figures she’d be pretty curious too.

Still, she wasn’t going to tell them the truth, still half-convinced that May and Coulson would return and say they couldn’t go ahead with the adoption, and she needed to leave ¬–

Okay, Daisy forced herself to take a deep breath, just like Dr. Lorrel showed her, not wanting to devolve into a panic attack in the middle of SHEILD.  
Distraction, she needed a distraction – right, Jemma and Fitz. “Uh, I’m here to fill out some paperwork.” They both smiled back at her, but she could see the curiosity lingering on their faces. Fitz opened his mouth, probably to ask more questions about her presence, when Jemma not-so-subtly kicked him under the table.

“Ow,” he shouted, “that bloody–”

“So,” Jemma spoke over him, “would you like to see our project?”

Well, that’s as good a distraction as any.

“Yeah, sure,” Daisy responds, “what is it?”

“Oh, we’re working on developing a mechanical-biological interface in order to develop more advanced prothesis and potentially artificial organs for those with incurable diseases.” Jemma responded, clearly excited at the prospect.

And, seriously? These two looked, maybe, a little older than her. _Maybe._

“That’s impressive,” Daisy compliments, and then decides it would probably be inappropriate to ask how they hope to distribute the technology without skipping over impoverished areas and contributing to the unequal distribution of medical resources.

They probably haven’t thought of that though. Maybe she could hint at it – see where they stand on the topic.

“Would you like to stay?” Jemma asks, obviously seeing her hesitate at the doorway, “just until you need to return to your paperwork, of course.”

“Would that be cool?” Daisy asks, her eyes flicking over towards Fitz, who still seemed a bit peeved at the interruption.

He didn’t notice the unasked question until Jemma nudged him slightly, “Hmm,” he jerked up, putting down the miniature wrench he’d been fiddling with, “oh, yeah, yeah, sure,” he mumbled, “but don’t touch anything!”

“Oh, Fitz,” Jemma sighed.

“It’s cool,” Daisy smiled, “so, what’s that do?” She asked, gesturing toward one of the oddly colored blobs of goo sitting in front of Jemma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!


	14. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the super long wait! I've started school again and while getting an education is _very_ important, it leaves very little time fro writing! i'm currently on a short break, and longer one will be coming up soon, so hopefully I'll have some more time!
> 
> Also, thank you all for your wonderful comments (and kudos!)! They really kept me motivated while drowning in papers and tests!

If someone asked Melinda May ten years ago if she’d ever think she would be adopting a teenage genius, who, by all appearances ran off sass and sheer determination, or in a sort-of relationship with Phil Coulson, who was _also_ adopting said smart-mouthed teenager she’d have – 

Well, she’d have done nothing, because no one in their right minds would actually have thought to ask her that, as they’re all afraid of her.

“May! You planning on day dreaming all day? Or coming to sign this?” Hill shouted, grinning like a mad-woman.

Were afraid of her, apparently. People’s sudden decision to make small-talk and outright banter with her may be the worst downside of this whole ordeal.

The only downside, she amended, with a glance towards Daisy, who, upon entering the room, grinning from ear to ear and seemingly finally believing this adoption was actually going to happen, hadn’t stopped teasing Phil about the extent of his obsession with Captain America.

Although, if news about the obsession had really spread to low-level agents – the only ones likely to talk to Daisy as long as her badge read ‘visitor’ – he really deserved to be teased. 

“Waiting on you, Hill.” May called back, “You finally finished with those admin forms?” she smirked, relishing the glare sent her way. Hill, despite being Assistant Director, absolutely loathes paperwork, and unfortunately for her, and thankfully for May, she can’t actually pass it to the planned adopters per agency protocol. 

Hill finally rolled her eyes in response, finishing up the last form. “Okay you three, time to sign!”

May smiled as Daisy eagerly swiveled in her seat, grabbing a pen as quickly as Phil. Clearly ecstatic, she grinned back at May. “Ready to make it official? You guys will be stuck with me forever now.” And despite her bravado, and her eagerness, May could tell she was truly checking, still not quite convinced that they really wanted this as much as she did, not able to believe her good fortune, even as it unfolded before her eyes.

Phil, always one to give a reassuring word, spoke “Of course, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

(Both decidedly ignoring Hill’s mumbled, “I should hope not, I just filled out a dozen forms.”)

May, on the other hand, simply pulled the stack closer to her, and signed. When she looked up, Daisy was smiling at her, brighter even than her smile during their Mandarin or Tai Chi lessons.

No, ten years ago, or even ten months ago, May wouldn’t have believed this could happen. Not after Bahrain and Andrew. But now, smiling back at Daisy, at her new daughter, she believed.

*

And, of course, now that Natasha and Clint actually know about Daisy, there was no possible way they’d be escaping SHIELD headquarters without at least an appearance at the not-at-all-a-surprise surprise adoption party.

May was fairly certain even Daisy knew this was going to happen. But, based on the elation on her face, as Maria scowled at Clint for “misuse of department resources”, which would have been more convincing if she wasn’t eating a piece of the cake those misused resources bought, she didn’t seem to mind that the surprise wasn’t very well-kept.

Not to mention her excited recollections of her time with trainees Fitz and Simmons. May could admit to being pleased when she first found the three of them. Sci-tech kids tended to be a bit territorial, of both their space and their inventions, so when she saw them all sharing the meager lab space housed in the Hub, she concluded they may already be becoming friends.

Then, of course, she got close enough to listen to Daisy’s impassioned lecture about how the health-care system in place wouldn’t distribute the benefits of their invention fairly, and how, really if they put in the work to fairly distribute, the rewards would outweigh the costs, and May was suddenly very worried about how much trouble these three could get into. 

Especially when she heard the kids’ mummers of agreement and questions about fair distribution practices. 

Fury was not going to be pleased. 

Oh well, Daisy’s not actually wrong and the kids do technically own their personal inventions. Even if Hand and some of the others will likely be scrambling to change that. 

Now, as she listened to her retell a joke to Natasha, she decided to just be thankful Daisy was, in fact, making friends. 

*

Daisy grinned, giggling at Clint’s story about his mission in an ‘undisclosed location’. She wasn’t able to help teasing them about being able to find the information, if she wanted to of course, but stopped at a not-at-all subtle cough from Coulson and Hill. 

The disbelief hanging over her was finally starting to clear, allowing her to really enjoy this. She was adopted – after almost sixteen years and a loss of all hope, she was adopted.

And it only took committing a federal and taking down a multi-national crime ring.

It truly was amazing, and when Coulson’s hand landed on her shoulder with a questioning glance, she laughed slightly and asked, “You remember how I was looking for my parents? When I hacked SHIELD that first time?”

“How could I forget?” He joked, “I think Fury’s still yelling at the IT department.”

“Well,” she continued, her cheeks heating slightly, “I think, instead, I found my family.”

Daisy ducked her head, no longer able to look Coulson in the eye, even if that was dumb, since he literally adopted her thirty minutes ago. And just as she was starting to worry about his silence, he responded, as bit choked up, “Yeah, I think you did too.”

At that, she was finally able to glance back up, beaming back at slightly teary-eyed Coulson. She laughed softly as he cleared his throat, “And just you wait, you’ve got a whole agency’s worth of Aunts and Uncles to meet. Or even better, wait until you meet May’s parents.”

And yeah, Daisy thought, leaning in to hug him, that did sound pretty good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! (For now at least!)
> 
> I currently have three continuations/ follow-up one-shots planned, but I'm not sure when they'll be out. Eventually, they'll be posted to my "The Kids Aren't Alright" series!
> 
> Any and all feedback is very much appreciated!


End file.
